Drinking and breastfeeding - How long should I wait if I get tipsy (4-6 drinks)? I weigh 170lbs - 30% body fat
I'm a "big" girl. I am completely sober 12 hours after having 6 Light Beers. I breastfeed before I drink, give a bottle for the 2 am then breastfeed after the 12 hour waiting period - at which point I am a little engorged. My milk supply is firmly established.
Answer:
You've already posted this once.
Look at the link I posted for you. It gives referenced information from reliable sources on this subject.
The American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Drugs classifies alcohol (ethanol) as a “Maternal Medication Usually Compatible With Breastfeeding.”
Everyone metabolizes alcohol a bit differently...how much food in your tummy and your body weight play into it. The general rule of thumb is to wait 2 hours per drink. Another good guideline is "if your head is clear, your milk is too" or, in other words, if you are sober enough to drive then you are sober enough to nurse.
Less than 2% of the alcohol consumed by the mother reaches her blood and milk. There is no need to pump & dump milk after drinking alcohol (unless you get engorged) because pumping & dumping does not speed the elimination of alcohol from the milk. Alcohol leaves the milk supply in the same way it leaves the bloodstream.
All things in moderation! 6 drinks is probably a bit extreme. That's a long time to go without nursing. You would definately need to pump to maintain your supply and keep from getting engorged in that case. If you don't express milk for that long you could end up with plugged ducts or a dip in your supply.
My sister's doctor actually suggested drinking beer during breast feeding. I think you should wait an hour per drink.
Think about weaning the baby to bottle milk.
as long as it is not a daily habit and you only do once in a while, I can't say that it will have a lasting affect. May be you should drink like only three since you seem to have a bit of a problem with it.
Drink a bunch of water and then feed her.
Drinking alcohol does not seriously harm the baby, and mums should not stop breastfeeding simply because they have had an alcoholic drink.
But this study suggests that drinking alcohol may reduce a mum's milk production in the short term.1 More research is needed to confirm this.
If you do choose to drink alcohol while breastfeeding, the best advice is to not drink shortly before feeding your baby.
Whether you are breastfeeding or not, women are advised to drink no more than 14 units of alcohol a week, and no more than two to three units in any one day.
Units are standard amounts of alcohol. As a rough guide, the following drinks contain one unit of alcohol:4
* one small glass (125ml) of table wine
* a single pub measure (25ml) of whisky, gin or brandy
During pregnancy, any alcohol that is consumed is always passed on to the baby in the womb.
It's also possible for a mum to pass on a small amount of alcohol to her baby through her breast milk if she breastfeeds soon after drinking.3,5 Alcohol can make the milk smell and taste different, which may put your baby off.3
Because alcohol is not trapped in breast milk, the level of alcohol will drop over time. This is why mums are advised not to drink alcohol for a few hours before breastfeeding.5
* half a pint of beer or cider
* quarter of a pint of superstrength beer or cider
It takes about an hour per drink for your system to metabolize the alcohol. My doctor told me 24 hours if I was going to have that much to drink. I rarely waited that long as I usually did not have more than one or two. If you notice the baby spitting up more or acting fussy then you should probably wait a bit longer next time. If the baby seems fine afterwards then you are probably waiting long enough. Everyone's metabolism is diffrent just as everyone's bodies are different. Anything doctors tell you is either general or general to your weight or body type. Good Luck
I read in a magazine (I can't remember which one) that if you have more than a few drinks and you have a breast pump that you can just "pump and dump". But pump milk before drinking so that if baby is hungry later on you can still feed him/her.
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