Pump n Dump how to?

[Jessie Mae]

I feel guilty already about the wasting of the liquid gold, but I have tickets to a concert, friends visiting. etc..... and I really need a break (I have a almost six month old daughter). I have only heard tales about women who pump milk on reserve, have a night on the town, then get rid of the substance ridden milk and the next day go back to being the good nursing mommy. I want to make the tale a reality for me next weekend! What is the proper way to do this? How much milk should I have on reserve? How many times do I have to pump and dump? Thanks in advance for any info!
Jessica

[Ruthla]

Why do you think you need to pump and dump, rather than pumping and saving the milk? What substances do you plan to ingest?

Some substances (such as alcohol) never make it into the milk and there's no need to dump any milk at all. Other substances are unsafe for more than a few hours, and shouldn't be consumed at all by nursing moms (unless you're willing to pump and dump for several days, which might lead to a loss of milk supply and/or a baby who refuses the breast- I do NOT recomend this!)

Check out www.kellymom.com for help figuring out how much milk to leave for the baby.

The only real reason I could see to "pump and dump" for your night on the town is if you don't want to bother schlepping the milk back with you- but really it's not such a big deal. Stick an ice pack in the bag with the breastpump and store the milk in the same bag.

[boobs4milk]

Originally Posted by Ruthla

Why do you think you need to pump and dump, rather than pumping and saving the milk? What substances do you plan to ingest?

Some substances (such as alcohol) never make it into the milk and there's no need to dump any milk at all.

this isn't true...

http://www.kellymom.com/health/lifestyle/alcohol.html

alcohol does make it into the milk. it leaves the milk as it leaves the blood stream and does not accumulate in the milk. if you wait 3 hrs after your last drink and don't get completely bombed, you should be okay.

[Drummer's Wife]

I'm not sure there is any reason you would need to pump and dump... are you talking about having a few drinks? Have you not drank alcohol for the last 6 mos while breastfeeding at all (plus pregnancy)?

[PatioGardener]

Originally Posted by boobs4milk

this isn't true...

http://www.kellymom.com/health/lifestyle/alcohol.html

alcohol does make it into the milk. it leaves the milk as it leaves the blood stream and does not accumulate in the milk. if you wait 3 hrs after your last drink and don't get completely bombed, you should be okay.

Alcohol does make it into the milk. It makes it in there at the same amount as in the blood stream.

So if Mama was to get completely bombed and had a blood alcohol level of 0.2% (legal limit is most often 0.08% in North America - so this would be completely bombed!) then baby would be getting milk with a concentration of 0.2%. That is less than 1/2 the alcohol in a non-alcoholic beer (often 0.5%).

For mothers who are not chronic drinkers, the worry with 'drunk nursing' isn't the alcohol in breastmilk - it's inability to parent, or co-sleeping while drunk.

[Ruthla]

OK, I didn't type that exactly right. Alcohol does get into the milk, but not in any significant degree. There's no need to dump any milk pumped while intoxicated- there won't be enough alcohol in the milk to hurt a healthy 6mo baby (and there won't be any alcohol in there at all if you don't pump until after the alcohol is out of your system.)

[hotharmony]

Originally Posted by Ruthla

Some substances (such as alcohol) never make it into the milk and there's no need to dump any milk at all.

It is not true that alcohol doesn't make it to the milk. If you are drunk your milk is drunk and you should dump it. But that being said, and I know from experience you will know the next day if the milk is bad because it will smell like alcohol.

[odoole]

I always thought this was kind of silly, but they do sell testing strips to measure how much alcohol is in breast milk -- so you could pump and then see if there's any alcohol in there or not.

I'm surprised, there are a lot of differing pieces of information on this thread. Here is what my impression was:

Alcohol DOES get into BM, but not to the same degree as your blood stream. Therefore, drinking while breastfeeding is not nearly as bad as drinking while pregnant. The American Academy of Pediatrics says moderate drinking and breastfeeding IS considered OK.

If you do get totally trashed, you don't have to dump any breastmilk. The alcohol that enters your breastmilk will eventually clear out, just like it clears out of your bloodstream. It won't just sit there forever. That being said, if you're engorged and pump while you're still drunk, then I would probably dump the milk. STILL though, the amount of alcohol in there would be pretty diluted compared to what's in your blood.

Someone please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong about this.

[Drummer's Wife]

That is my understanding, Odoole. I believe it's what Hale says, as well.

If you went out, and drank 6 beers and got drunk - no, it wouldn't be the wisest thing to breastfeed while you are highly intoxicated... BUT, if you come home several hrs later, and have sobered up - the alcohol content in your breastmilk at that point would be minimal. It leaves your milk as it leaves your bloodstream.

[hotharmony]

I agree with PP but u will probably want to pump n dump while at the concert just to relieve some pressure.

[Drummer's Wife]

oh, and yeah, I wouldn't save any milk pumped during the concert, if you are feeling drunk -- I had many nights where I was uncomfortably engorged and manually hand-pumped a bit out in the bathroom sink at a concert to 'relieve' myself -- wonder what the groupie chicks would have thought about that if I had been caught

[rachelsmama]

If you pump for comfort while you're totally wasted the dumping might happen whether you plan to or not .

[Jessie Mae]

Thanks!

Thanks so much for your input! After reading what you ladies had to say, I think that I'll be all right considering what a cheap date I am now! The one post about having six beers - I think that I would just about die if I drank six beers. Now pre-baby, that's another story! Ha. Anyway, thanks again.

[Drummer's Wife]

Originally Posted by Jessie Mae

Thanks so much for your input! After reading what you ladies had to say, I think that I'll be all right considering what a cheap date I am now! The one post about having six beers - I think that I would just about die if I drank six beers. Now pre-baby, that's another story! Ha. Anyway, thanks again.

oh, yeah, I was just using 6 beers as an example of getting super drunk (I couldn't hang drinking that many, either!)

One thing I always remembered was the 'if you are too drunk to drive, you are too drunk to breastfeed' so, chances are by the time you get home you will have sobered up enough to feed baby for the next nursing session.

[Jessie Mae]

So, my big night out was on Sat. and it was soooooo much fun. It was MUCH needed and I feel refreshed and like I got a little of myself back. I danced, had a few drinks and got into my zone. It was nice to come home to my baby after though. Thanks again for your help.

[Drummer's Wife]

Glad you had a great time! Mommies need to do stuff like that on occasion