At this time of year, many women who don’t normally drink will have a few and those that drink regularly, have a few more. A recent study of 1006 Australians has been reported to show a 1/3 increase in alcohol consumption during the festive season. I know myself as a breastfeeding mostly non drinker, that I have had some alcohol just because it has been available to me and I have had family around to drink with. My baby is 16 months old and I can easily metabolise a glass of wine in between feeds. But are there guidelines for combining alcohol and breastfeeding? How long do you need to leave it between drinking and feeding? What about younger babies? Are there any risks to the baby if Mum has a drink or two then feeds?
It turns out we know quite a lot about how alcohol works in breastmilk. What we don’t know is how it affects a baby’s health, for that reason the safest recommendation is no alcohol for breastfeeding mothers. However- It is better to drink and feed than to not feed at all, even for one night out. So here is what you need to know if you plan to drink alcohol as a breastfeeding mother.
Time taken for alcohol to clear from breastmilk depends on your weight. For an average sized women, it conservatively takes 2 hours to get rid of each standard drink. That’s 2 hours for 1, 4 hours for 2, 6 hours for 3 etc. The smaller you are, the more time it takes to metabolise each drink.
- Alcohol becomes present in your milk 30-60 mins from the time you start drinking.
- The only way to reduce the amount of alcohol in your breastmilk is to wait it out. Once you stop drinking, the amount of alcohol in your blood and breastmilk will start to drop.
- There is no point to expressing milk while you are drunk to throw affected milk away (the ol’ pump n dump myth). You just need to wait enough time for the alcohol to clear from the milk. Express only if you need to for comfort. If you express while affected by alcohol, throw it away because the alcohol will stay in the milk once removed from the breast.
- For very young babies, it is best NOT TO DRINK at all. Babies under 1 month old cannot metabolise alcohol, their liver is still maturing. Also, to establish a good supply and avoid feeding difficulties you need to be available to feed a newborn at their whim. This may mean that on the day you decide to have a drink baby decides a feeding marathon is in order and wants to feed every hour. In this case, you don’t have time to metabolise even 1 standard drink between feeds. This may seem a little harsh but, if you wouldn’t drink while pregnant, it’s not that much more to refrain for another 4-8 weeks while your baby develops the ability to cope with the alcohol and you get feeding and supply in synch.
- Binge drinking is never a good idea for anyone- breastfeeding or not. But, if you plan to go out and write yourself off, or if you sometimes accidently do so- freeze milk to leave for your baby and find someone take care of your baby until you are no longer affected by alcohol.
- Breastmilk with a small amount of alcohol in it is still better than formula or any other breastmilk substitute. So if baby is hungry, you have no expressed milk, you’ve had a drink or 2 and think you still have alcohol in your milk, feed anyway.
- Alcohol can affect your let down and slow the flow of milk. This may make baby a bit fussy at the breast.
- Babies that are affected by alcohol in the milk may fall asleep quicker but wake more frequently and suffer tummy upsets the next day.
If you want more info take a look at the new guidelines put out by the Australian Breastfeeding Association in conjunction with Dr Roslyn Giglia from the Curtin University of Technology.
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