Alcohol while breastfeeding

[LuvinMyBabyBoy]

Is it true that alcohol gets into breastmilk as soon as it enters your bloodstream? If so, does it leave your breastmilk like it leaves your blood? I'm a new mom, and I haven't had a drink since before I got pregnant, and now that the summer is finally here, it would be nice to be able to have a drink or two out on the patio. My little guy is 4 months old, and is sleeping 7-8 hours in a row now. If I have a drink after he goes to bed, will I have to pump and throw it out before his first feeding 7-8 hours later?

[H.Starr]

Yes I believe you would. I know it gets straight into your milk, anything you consume, he then consumes. So I would think you would have to pump out everything you've got once the alcohol leaves your system. Otherwise he's definitely going to get some of it.

[brandie1127]

The only thing that I drank while breastfeeding was a glass of wine - but it made me REAL sick. I don't know if it was the hormones or what. Might have been guilt? LOL. But I was a seriously clean breastfeeder - I didn't even wear perfume. It leaches into your breastmilk too.

My ped told me to have a drink after her last feeding and just to be safe either pump and dump or if you're baby takes a bottle have one waiting.

[atippit]

it depends on what you are drinking. that is why they now have kits where you can test your breastmilk to see if it has alcohol in it. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0018LRDIM it's in the Parenting magazine so i'm surprised you haven't seen it. anyways... you CAN have a drink you just have to prepare. pump some extra milk and put it aside for a night you know you are going to. make sure to fully feed your baby before you decide to drink this way if they do happen to wake up while you are out or in, either/or, you have enough pumped milk to supply overnight. then after you are finished drinking you can pump out what stored up while you weren't breastfeeding and dump that (just in case) and then start over.

or you can get the test kit and just check it to make sure.

[Kobie137]

How times have changed...
One of my MIL's good friends told me when she would bf 30+ years ago, she had the baby in one hand and a beer in the other....beer was her "fluids" and "helped the milk flow"
Maybe not the best advice but her two kids turned out fine!

[Jenn212]

They sell the test kits at Target (at least at the Target here they do). I'm not sure how well they work or if they are endorsed by doctors or anything, but I have seen them there.

[jasmine89]

yes it gets into your milk my doctore told me to wait intill i am no longer drunk or stop drinking in pump all of your booby milk an throw it out then it should be okay for you to feed your baby, but i suggest you pump your breast twice before you feed your baby

[atippit]

parenting or babytalk magazine this month said that it takes two hours to reach your breastmilk and there is no reason to pump and dump.

[nkrumpfer]

I swear.. i've been told ever conflicting answer under the sun!... I did just read in a baby talk magazine though that if you wait two hours theres no point in pumping and dumping. I followed that rule when I was breastfeeding but I didnt really drink much.

I'd hate to tell you wrong information. I would talk with a professional.

[stellamaris347@hotmail.com]

I asked the lactation specialists at the hospital where I gave birth and read plenty of up-to-date articles which all agreed that there is no reason to "pump and dump", since alcohol enters and leaves your breastmilk like it does in your bloodstream. So, it shouldn't hurt to have a drink or two at night if your baby won't be breastfeeding till the morning. I've heard a few different versions of how long it takes for alcohol to leave the bloodstream/breastmilk(2-3 hours for one drink, but what kind of drink?), so of course its always better to be on the safe side if you might breastfeed within a few hours. And even if you have all night, you still might have some alcohol in your breastmilk in the morning if you got really plastered the night before!