Drinking and breastfeeding

[gibbinator]

Do you worry much about alcohol making it into your breast milk and consequently your baby?

How much (if any) would you be willing to drink when you know you will be nursing within the hour?

Question brought to you by enjoying the occasional sip of dh's beer on football Sunday (go Colts!)

Personally if I've just fed ds, I'm quite happy to have a full can/glass of booze. If I expect to feed ds soon, I'll have no more 3-4 sips of whatever dh is having if I'm really in the mood and don't want to wait.

[justjen]

I've gotten more and more lax lately

As long as I don't feel it, I'll feed her. So if I've slowly consumed a glass of wine ... or two ... but don't feel it, she getting it. So far, she doesn't seem scarred ;-)

[cinco]

I don't think twice about having a glass of wine or a beer or two. At night, I'm comfortable having a bit more. As long as I'm not tipsy when it is time to feed her, I still nurse.

[Deleted]

I started having about half a drink when I wanted it when DS was 2 or 3 weeks old. After he was a few months, I had a full drink when ever I wanted it. He's too unpredictable to try to time it (although now evenings were safe).

Really, if you have a drink and your blood/milk alcohol gets up to 0.04%, that's still less alcohol than non-alcoholic beer. You'd have to be pretty drunk (and/or have a very young baby) to have much impact. My worry was more about not being impaired while caring for him.

[redheadk]

I was a huge stickler at first but I've really loosened up on it. I normally only drink one glass of wine at night, anyway, and I'm just sipping it so if she wakes up and wants to nurse, I nurse her. She's fine.

[Brie]

I have a beer or glass of wine almost every night with dinner and feed him shortly after. I don't worry about it. My LC recommends a beer a day for supply.

I try to avoid hard liquor since that hits me much faster and harder.

[Deleted]

Yeah, I did it all the time. I tried to limit it to small amounts (sips to half a glass) when she was teeny tiny (under 1 month old and still cluster feeding) but I never felt bad about indulging. I really never drank more than 1 a day until she started going to bed at a predictable time and sleeping several hours at a time and then I would go for 2 if I wanted.

When in doubt my rule of thumb was if I could drive, I could breastfeed. And to be honest I err more on the side of caution when it comes to driving than breastfeeding.

[Deleted]

Dec 30, 2012 14:14:49 GMT -5 @msstarry said:

I have made a personal goal to never drink hard liquor again, lol. One year and counting!

OMG you are so brave. I still remember my first postpartum manhattan. I seriously did a happy dance when she started reliably sleeping from 7 to 11 PM so I could feel OK about hitting the bourbon again. Mmmmmm.

[justjen]

Dec 30, 2012 14:14:49 GMT -5 @msstarry said:

I have made a personal goal to never drink hard liquor again, lol. One year and counting!

WHY???

This makes me so sad

[Deleted]

I have a glass of wine almost every night. If I can't feel the effects, than DD can't either. That's what my LC told me, anyway.

I also avoid the hard stuff, like Brie. But I have definitely had a good bit of homemade Bailey's in the past week...but I figure it's diluted with heavy cream and sweetened condensed milk...which is probably worse for me compared to the brandy haha. It's so heavenly.

[huskymom]

Dec 30, 2012 14:16:54 GMT -5 @carmensandiego said:

When in doubt my rule of thumb was if I could drive, I could breastfeed. And to be honest I err more on the side of caution when it comes to driving than breastfeeding.

This.

[justjen]

Well, I have no objection to anyone over the age of 22 giving up Rumplemintz Or Jaeger, for that matter.

[Deleted]

Dec 30, 2012 14:24:46 GMT -5 @msstarry said:

I have PTSD for some incidents involving Rumplemintz a few months before I conceived, lol. Not to mention my love / hate relationship with Jagerbombs.

I may break down and have liquor again if it is on a classy occasion and some high shelf stuff. And if someone could teach me about it like I have been briefly schooled on wine.

Oh I feel your pain. I have sworn off Rumplemintz and Jager Bombs since college. Goldschlager too.

I will give you a liquor lesson anytime. Sadly it's way more fun if you can do it in person and taste test, but I have had success introducing friends to "classic" cocktails like manhattans, old fashioneds, side cars, martinis (gin or vodka, but gin is the classic ingredient), tom collinses. Typically you can find something that you like in those 5 and then expand from there. For me it is all about the main component of the drink... I drink manhattans and old fashioneds because I like rye and bourbon; I stay away from drinks with a clear liquor because I am just not crazy about vodka, gin, etc.

artofmanliness.com/2009/06/01/5-classic-cocktails-every-man-should-know/ is an interesting primer.

[dcn]

I read somewhere as long as you are sober enough to drive you are ok to feed. I have a beer or glass if wine 1 or 2 nights a week.

Aaaaand I should have read the other responses first haha.

[justjen]

Carmen, I'm totally going to pump you for info before the next wedding I go to. So, we'll chat in March

[Deleted]

Dec 30, 2012 14:31:27 GMT -5 justjen said:

Carmen, I'm totally going to pump you for info before the next wedding I go to. So, we'll chat in March

:Y: :drink:

[gibbinator]

Ya'll are making me greedily eye that leftover bottle of wine from last night

[Deleted]

I follow the ok to drive, ok to BF rule. When he was less than a month I rarely drank and BFed but that was bc I either just didn't feel like drinking or a half beer would get me tipsy haha.

If I know I'm going to be pretty drunk (wedding for example) I factor in an extra bottle of pumped milk for when we get home.

[scribellesam]

I would happily have a glass of wine before nursing without issue, but it makes DH very uncomfortable so I don't usually drink anything until after DS is asleep.

[Deleted]

I'll have a beer with dinner and then pump (exclusively pumping here), and hen have another beer after she goes to bed at 8 and pump again before bed at 10. He'll get that milk mixed in with everything else through the day and I figure it's fine.

I did have 2 whiskey cokes and 2 glasses of wine on Christmas Eve and had to pump and dump. For someone with so little a supply that was a tragedy. But in reality, the hangover it's what will keep me off the hard alcohol for a while!

[Deleted]

I used to have a beer while nursing and then one more right after. That was my limit, though.

I did get drunk and would wait til it was out of my system.

[Deleted]

Ditto PPers, if I don't feel it I BF. So for me that's finishing a glass of wine 30 minutes before BFing. I have wine/beer 3-4 nights a week, and cocktails when we go out. My parents are babysitting NYE and I am really looking forward to champagne!

[arch01]

i followed the ok to drive, ok to feed rule.

[catbus]

I don't worry about it, but I'm usually just drinking one beer daily. (Though this time of year, it's a bit stronger than other times, because I love winter beers.)

Dec 30, 2012 14:42:00 GMT -5 jenny1980 said:

I don't like hard alcohol. I'll occasionally have a cocktail. It I much prefer the buzz from beer and wine.

Ditto! I love a little beer buzz.

[jackpackage]

I've become such a lightweight, so I try to keep it to one drink every week or two-Hendricks & tonic, haters!, after ds goes to bed. I'm much more lax when it comes to beer and wine. I'm not a huge fan of either, so it's rare for me to finish a full drink on my own. I do worry about the impact on my supply though.