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I know, I know.
You didn’t drink for 9 months and you are still aching for a glass of wine/martini/cold beer. When pregnant, you protected your baby because you knew that alcohol would have been running in his veins with possible health consequences. Now, you’re also doing everything you possibly can to protect your baby: you’re exclusively nursing, following directions from the World Health Organization and your paediatrician. But what do they say about drinking alcohol while breastfeeding? How different is it from drinking during the pregnancy? Will drinking while breastfeeding hurt the baby?
1. Drinking while pregnant vs Drinking while breastfeeding:
Not the same thing.
When a drink contains less than 0.5% alcohol, it is considered non-alcoholic and it can be legally sold to minors in the United States. If you drank one beer (341 ml, 5%) and breastfed immediately after, your baby is drinking breastmilk that has a 0.03% alcohol content, which is considered a non-alcoholic beverage. His own level of alcohol in his blood will be around 0.0000001%. How can that possibly hurt him? It is very different from the 0.03% level that he would have in his blood if you had your drink while pregnant. For detailed numbers, see
2. Will drinking while breastfeeding hurt the baby?
Quick answer: no. Live your life and have a drink if you feel like it, it will not hurt your baby. Drink responsibly, that’s all.
Long answer: no. Live your life and have a drink if you feel like it, it will not hurt your baby. Drink responsibly, that’s all. Getting impaired is dangerous, whether you have a baby or not. Breastfeeding-wise, your breastmilk is still what is best for your baby, even if you had a drink. The alcohol level transferred to breastmilk, already low, will get even lower with time (same as your blood). Time, and nothing else, will make the alcohol completely go away from your breastmilk. The more you drink, the longer it takes for your body to eliminate the alcohol.
Remember that the taste of your milk changes according to what you eat and drink, and some babies may not like the taste of the beer.
The American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Drugs considers alcohol compatible with breastfeeding. It lists possible side effects if consumed in large amounts, including: drowsiness, deep sleep, weakness, and abnormal weight gain in the infant, and the possiblity of decreased milk-ejection reflex in the mother. The drug transfer table is available at http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;108/3/776/T6 and the full text of The Transfer of Drugs and Other Chemicals Into Human Milk can be found at http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;108/3/776. The Lactmed website (updated in 2009) also says that “casual use of alcohol (such as 1 glass of wine or beer per day) is unlikely to cause either short- or long-term problems in the nursing infant, especially if the mother waits 2 to 2.5 hours per drink before nursing, and does not appear to affect breastfeeding duration. Daily heavy use of alcohol (more than 2 drinks daily) may affect infants negatively and appears to decrease the length of time that mothers breastfeed their infants. Nursing or pumping within 1 hour before ingesting alcohol may slightly reduce the subsequent amounts of alcohol in breastmilk”.
Advice:
Enjoy your life with your baby: have people over, go for dinners, and drink alcohol moderately.
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Disclaimer: Information presented in this blog entry is not meant as a substitute for professional judgment. You should consult your healthcare provider for breastfeeding advice related to your particular situation. Momzelle does not warrant or assume any liability or responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the information on this site.
