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I drink and breastfeed

post #1 of 45
5/8/12 at 5:15pm
Thread Starter 

I have had two glasses of wine as I type this, and I am typing with one hand because I am breastfeeding my son.

 

I believe very strongly that telling women that they can't drink while nursing is yet another way of undermining breastfeeding. When you breastfeed, apparently, you're supposed to sit around your house all day and do nothing and see no-one. Screw that.

 

 

I don't drink every day and I rarely get drunk. But I do drink. Since giving birth, I drink to the point of drunkenness about once a month or so. And I have just nursed my baby as normal. I decided I am personally okay with my son occasionally getting 0.06% alcohol (or whatever it is) in his milk, and have no intention of compromising my supply or my nursing relationship by bottle feeding.

 

I know one mother who quit breastfeeding at 3 months because she said she wanted to have occasional nights out with her husband. She was quite sad to discover that you can drink and breastfeed, and I was very sad to learn that her son won't get the benefits of breastfeeding because of misinformation.

 

So I think I should not only spread the word, but do my part to normalize moderate drinking and nursing! After all, I'm going to be nursing for two years and beyond.

 

Lactivation: I'm an enthusiastic collector of single malts and maintained my membership in my local scotch tasting club even through my pregnancy. While pregnant, I sniffed the scotches. Now that I am nursing, I bring my baby, nurse him as needed, and drink those scotches! (The bachelor gentlemen in my club have softened to my baby and now all want to have children because "it's easier than they thought." LOL hahaha try waking up 4 times in the night.)

 

Lactivation: I have a picture of me breastfeeding one week postpartum on Facebook, holding a delicious dram of Lagavulin.

 

Lactivation: I go to restaurants, order drinks, and whip out my boobs to nurse my son. I have gotten a few double-takes from servers, but only one server said anything to me. She said, "I'm due in three months myself and I'm so happy to see you out and ordering a Manhattan! Makes me feel better about what I got myself into."

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post #2 of 45
5/8/12 at 5:23pm
Hear hear, ita.
post #3 of 45
5/8/12 at 6:44pm

I don't think you'll find much disagreement here at MDC.

post #4 of 45
5/17/12 at 10:40pm

Agreed

post #5 of 45
5/19/12 at 9:07am

I have to give credit to New Jersey Health and Senior Services for debunking many of the breastfeeding myths, and as OP stated can uneccesssarily deter a woman from breastfeeding. They discuss the alcohol myth, among others:

 

http://www.nj.gov/health/fhs/wic/breastfeedingmyth.shtml

post #6 of 45
6/1/12 at 5:20pm

That is an awesome link!  Thanks so much!
 

post #7 of 45
6/1/12 at 5:39pm

Right on!

post #8 of 45
6/2/12 at 6:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MichelleZB View Post

I have had two glasses of wine as I type this, and I am typing with one hand because I am breastfeeding my son.

 

I believe very strongly that telling women that they can't drink while nursing is yet another way of undermining breastfeeding. When you breastfeed, apparently, you're supposed to sit around your house all day and do nothing and see no-one. Screw that.

 

 

I don't drink every day and I rarely get drunk. But I do drink. Since giving birth, I drink to the point of drunkenness about once a month or so. And I have just nursed my baby as normal. I decided I am personally okay with my son occasionally getting 0.06% alcohol (or whatever it is) in his milk, and have no intention of compromising my supply or my nursing relationship by bottle feeding.

 

I know one mother who quit breastfeeding at 3 months because she said she wanted to have occasional nights out with her husband. She was quite sad to discover that you can drink and breastfeed, and I was very sad to learn that her son won't get the benefits of breastfeeding because of misinformation.

 

So I think I should not only spread the word, but do my part to normalize moderate drinking and nursing! After all, I'm going to be nursing for two years and beyond.

 

Lactivation: I'm an enthusiastic collector of single malts and maintained my membership in my local scotch tasting club even through my pregnancy. While pregnant, I sniffed the scotches. Now that I am nursing, I bring my baby, nurse him as needed, and drink those scotches! (The bachelor gentlemen in my club have softened to my baby and now all want to have children because "it's easier than they thought." LOL hahaha try waking up 4 times in the night.)

 

Lactivation: I have a picture of me breastfeeding one week postpartum on Facebook, holding a delicious dram of Lagavulin.

 

Lactivation: I go to restaurants, order drinks, and whip out my boobs to nurse my son. I have gotten a few double-takes from servers, but only one server said anything to me. She said, "I'm due in three months myself and I'm so happy to see you out and ordering a Manhattan! Makes me feel better about what I got myself into."

 

 

I stopped BF my first DC at 5 months for this reason. I had a glass of wine and broke down in tears realizing I would no longer be able to breastfeed him. I called my OBGYN the next day who confirmed my fear that I should not continue to breastfeed after resuming drinking alcohol. 

 

That was 3.5 years ago. I now have a 16 month old DD whom I am still nursing and of course, I drink wine like I normally would. I drink to the point of drunk once every month or two when we're visiting friends/family out of town, and I drink a glass at night 2 or 3 times per week. When I think about my nursing relationship with my DD, and how easier my life is in general with her than it was with DS as a baby, and how much healthier she is than DS was (and frankly, is).. it just breaks my heart. It makes me both mad at myself for being so clueless, and mad at my doctors for bad information. 

 

When friends and family observe me drinking, they say things like, "Oh, have you weaned (DD)?" and I say, "No, of course not. I won't consider weaning her til she's 2. Breastfeeding women can drink, you know."

post #9 of 45
6/2/12 at 7:19pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by anjsmama View Post

 

 

I stopped BF my first DC at 5 months for this reason. I had a glass of wine and broke down in tears realizing I would no longer be able to breastfeed him. I called my OBGYN the next day who confirmed my fear that I should not continue to breastfeed after resuming drinking alcohol. 

 

That sucks, anjmama! I'm sorry that happened to you.

post #10 of 45
6/2/12 at 7:31pm
Love this post! Drink and breastfeed!

We co sleep and for my own peace of mind, I got DD used to sleeping in the arms reach co sleeper for the first sleep until she wakes to nurse so I can feel comfortable having that 2nd glass of wine.

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post #11 of 45
6/3/12 at 5:26pm

biggrinbounce.gif

I thought I was all alone! I feel so much better having read this! Thanks for posting thumb.gif

post #12 of 45
6/4/12 at 2:57am

OMG!!!! I sooooo thought I was alone!!! I would have gotten flamed anywhere else. I drink occasionally and breastfeed as I normally would. My son won't take a bottle and I've read several studies, suggesting that it's best to continue breastfeeding as normal because it's more beneficial to continue than to bottle feed. Thank you for posting!

post #13 of 45
6/4/12 at 6:39am

cheers!  champagne.gif

post #14 of 45
6/4/12 at 6:52pm

I didn't drink whil enursing ds1 but that was only bc I was 17 when he was born  heehee  I was 25 when I had ds2 and had drinks only very irregularly due to extreme poverty.  I don't think it's a big deal at all to drink moderately while nursing a baby of any age.

 

But...I should hope that it goes without saying that if a mama intends to drink to the point of drunkeness, she will have a sober adult there to take care of the baby, and that she will also refrain from sharing a bed with her baby that night.

post #15 of 45
6/4/12 at 7:42pm

I'm so glad I found this thread.  I have a martini or a daquari two or three times a month... and have been feeling very guilty because I wasn't sure whether it affects my son's breastfeeding.  I'm glad it doesn't.

post #16 of 45
6/5/12 at 8:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by blessedwithboys View Post

 

 

But...I should hope that it goes without saying that if a mama intends to drink to the point of drunkeness, she will have a sober adult there to take care of the baby, and that she will also refrain from sharing a bed with her baby that night.

Exactly! I got drunk and had to put my son in his bassinet that night. The only stories I've heard of babies dying while co-sleeping was when mom or dad was intoxicated.

post #17 of 45
6/5/12 at 11:47am

I generally didn't drink alcohol while nursing because alcohol is just not a big part of my life (I did drink at BIL's rehearsal dinner because that was a train wreck of a marriage!).  That said, I really encourage people to try and put the "risks" of alcohol to a baby in perspective.

 

An average beer has about 5% alcohol.

 

When you nurse, your milk has approximately the same alcohol concentration as your blood.  If you were drunk, that would mean about .08% alcohol.  If you're drinking lightly, then, let's call that .05%.

 

You know what has .5% alcohol content?  NON-alcoholic beer.  So, your milk after drinking has about 1/10th the alcohol has a non-alcoholic beer.

 

If you were legally drunk, a single beer would still have 63 TIMES the alcohol content as 12 ounces of your drunken milk.  Since most children don't drink 12 ounces at once, a single beer would have approximately 200 TIMES the alcohol as a 3-4 ounce serving of breastmilk.

 

There are 6 teaspoons in an ounce.  There are 12 ounces in a standard beer.  So, 72 teaspoons in a standard beer bottle.  So, nursing your child *while drunk* is equivalent to giving them around 1/3 teaspoon of standard beer. 


And that is while drunk.

 

Alchol is metabolized from breastmilk at approximately the same rate as from the blood.  For many people, you can have a drink and your blood will be virtually alcohol free an hour later.  If you have a drink, it is virtually guaranteed that your breastmilk will be alcohol free two hours later.

 

It always amazes me how people will accept the known risks of formula without a second thought but would look down on someone for having a couple of drinks and nursing four hours later. 

post #18 of 45
6/5/12 at 2:03pm

Cheers indeed! I came across this thread just as I am sitting here enjoying one very well-deserved post-partum beer. Great reading.

post #19 of 45
6/5/12 at 2:11pm

Congrats on the new addition, by the way, Mami Feliz. :)

post #20 of 45
6/6/12 at 3:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Becky Wheeler View Post

Congrats on the new addition, by the way, Mami Feliz. :)

 



Thank you :)

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