beer and breastmilk

[ktcl]

I have read that drinking stout beer is good for milk production. I have also read that as long as your baby does not eat for about 2 hours after you drink the beer, it won't be present in the milk. All of this being the case, what really happens if baby drinks breast milk in those 2 hours after drinking a beer? What is the impact on baby of eating milk "tainted" by beer?

[PatioGardener]

As long as you are not drinking alcohol to excess often, there should be negligible impact. Breast milk contains the same or lower percentage alcohol than blood. So if your blood is 0.05 % alcohol, then baby is drinking milk with less alcohol than a non-alcoholic beer.

The bigger concern is drunk parenting, or cosleeping under the influence.

[mamadelbosque]

Yeah, even at your absolute most wasted self, your bac is not going to go over 0.2% (0.08 is the 'legal limit' - 0.4% is 'general loss of conciousness/death'; most beer is %3-5, wine 9-12% for reference) - and thus neither will the content in your breastmilk. Drink away! Nurse away! It will not affect your child.

[Adaline'sMama]

Originally Posted by mamadelbosque

Yeah, even at your absolute most wasted self, your bac is not going to go over 0.2% (0.08 is the 'legal limit' - 0.4% is 'general loss of conciousness/death'; most beer is %3-5, wine 9-12% for reference) - and thus neither will the content in your breastmilk. Drink away! Nurse away! It will not affect your child.

Wait, if your BAC is at even .1% and loss of conciouness /death is .4%, I understand that it wont be any higher in your bm. But they have a lot less blood than we do, so logic would state that if the same amount of alcohol is going into less amount of blood , then their BAC would be higher than ours.

Im just wondering if you can really just drink away and not effect your child.

[AFWife]

Originally Posted by Adaline'sMama

Wait, if your BAC is at even .1% and loss of conciouness /death is .4%, I understand that it wont be any higher in your bm. But they have a lot less blood than we do, so logic would state that if the same amount of alcohol is going into less amount of blood , then their BAC would be higher than ours.

Im just wondering if you can really just drink away and not effect your child.

I think that by the time you drink enough to negatively affect your child you'll be too drunk to BF properly anyway.

[Youngfrankenstein]

If you're safe to drive, you're safe to bf.

[Baby~Braatens~Mama]

Originally Posted by AFWife

I think that by the time you drink enough to negatively affect your child you'll be too drunk to BF properly anyway.

Thank you for the laugh! I have this image in my head...

When I was shopping for a pump last week I saw some home tests that would measure the amount of alcohol in your milk. I didn't really pay attention to it, so am not quite sure how it worked, if it tells you how much is too much or what not. If you were planning on having some beers or drinking a bit, couldn't you just pump and store before? This was my plan for New Years Eve, have gramma watch our little man and provide her with enough milk to keep him happy through the night and into the next day for me. I really worry about these things as well, and wonder how long the alcohol would stay in my milk... but have never been much of a drinker anyway.

[womenswisdom]

According to this, "a standard glass of orange juice contains between .2% and .5% alcohol". Just an interesting comparison...

[mamadelbosque]

Exactly womenswisdom. Theres just no way that 0.01-0.2% alcohol is going to affect anyone in any sort of negative fashion. Its just not enough - not when their only drinking 4-8oz at anyone time.

I suppose if your really paranoid you could pump and dump or pump and feed expressed breastmilk. But me, I'm lazy. And I just don't think theres any way at all that its going to 'hurt' or affect my baby in absolutely any way... and I absolutely despise pumping. And my ds2 has never taken a bottle anyhow.

[P.J.]

I really missed having a glass of wine when I was pregnant, so now that I'm BFing I looked it up, and most sources say if you've drunk enough alcohol to feel drunk, then it's probably enough to affect your baby, who doesn't have a mature enough liver to deal with it. Supposedly, alcohol enters the milk after about 3 hours and leaves after about 8 hours. The only reason to pump&dump is if you get engorged. Otherwise the alcohol leaves your milk just like it leaves your blood.
So, for me that means one glass of wine is okay, maybe two if I'm having a big meal or spread out over several hours. I've done this before and I assume it's okay.

[Detcb]

Originally Posted by Youngfrankenstein

If you're safe to drive, you're safe to bf.

This is the guideline I follow, and we have done fine.