when to stop nursing before DD goes under general anesthesia

[Namaste Amma]

DD has dental surgery Wednesday morning. They told us no clear liquids starting four hours before surgery. If breastmilk takes 90 minutes to be digested, couldn't she nurse 90-120 minutes before surgery?

[BellinghamCrunchie]

Well, they'll say no. So I wouldn't. Breastmilk is considered a clear liquid, so I would hold off nursing for four hours like they said (I know how hard it is, DD had GA for a cavity at 18 months).

When you say BM is "digested" in 90 minutes, do you mean it takes 90 minutes to empty from the stomach? Because I don't think it goes from intake to bowel movement (complete digestion) in 90 minutes. Even if a food or fluid has emptied the stomach into the intestine, it can still come back up into the stomach and be a risk and/or cause nausea. (that's why sometimes a person can throw up bile, which is not normally found in the stomach, it enters from the gallbladder into the small intestine, and can reflux into the stomach when the digestive system is upset).

[katelove]

Stomach emptying is the issue prior to a GA. Most sources recommend fasting from breast milk for 3-4 hours prior to a GA and 2 hours prior to procedural sedation.