Wine and Breastfeeding

I agree with the other posters that the occasional glass or 2 of wine is fine. I would add that it sorta depends on babies age. I have read that if they are younger than 2 months it could be more risky b/c their livers arent fully developed, so just keep that in mind.

Yes, it's totally fine. A lactation consultant actually advised my friend to have a glass of wine BEFORE breastfeeding because she was having a hard time letting down. I asked my doctor and she said that the alcohol in breast milk is the same as in your blood. Even if you were actually drunk, we'd be talking about like .1% (a tenth of a percent, not ten percent) which is nothing! A glass of wine or two is no big deal, especially if you're doing it AFTER feeding. It'll certainly be out of your milk by the time you nurse again, but even if it's not, you (and your little one) will be fine.

HTH
T.

You can actually have a glass WHILE you are nursing! It will take an hour or 2 to get out of your system so by the time baby wants to nurse again you are fine! Enjoy!!!

ENJOY. I think the expert simply do not want mamas to get baby sick. But after you nurse I am sure it is a nice relaxer. I agree with Shaun C. In my day it was a beer or two...

Yes you can have some. It takes awhile to get into your milk. I think I would even do it while breastfeeding... I would stick to one glass inbetween each feeding... you never know if she might want more earlier than you thought. I always waited until a sleeping time.

I might get some flak, for this answer, but...I say if you want to drink a glass of wine (or two) go ahead. I drink the occasional glass (or two). I wait till after my daughter has nursed. I try to slowly sip the glass of wine, or drink it with a meal. If I just have one glass I will still breastfeed my daughter, especially if it's with a meal. If I'm planning to drink more than one, I wait until I know it will be awhile between feedings.

Here's what kellymom.com has to say about it. http://www.kellymom.com/health/lifestyle/alcohol.html They are a wonderful resource for breastfeeding questions. Go ahead and have a glass of wine (or two)! :D

I was told that once it is out of you blood it is out of your milk. If you have it 1-2 hrs before you feed agian. It should be fine.

When I was having supply problems, my doctor recommended I have a beer while nursing. By the time it hits your blood-stream, your child is done nursing! Otherwise, if you're only having 1-2 glasses of wine, I wouldn't worry about it, it will be gone in a couple of hours.

I agree with the posters below, 1-2 hours. There are also strips you can buy, at like babies r us and target, I think, that you can use to test your breast milk for alcohol just to make sure.

I've read two hours per drink.
but sometimes it can surprise you. i had one beer and 1/2 glass on wine over the course of 3 or 4 hours last month and i blew .08 which is way too much for baby!

But if it is out of your blood it is out of your milk.

I sometimes use a breathalizer. I think every home should have one, because alot of poeple really do not have accurate ideas about how alcohol effects them. i think they are about 70, 80 bucks. ours was left over from party days way before baby. so our guests could check them selves before going home. and my guests were very often Surprised!

You can also buy strips to test ur breast milk at Target. about 10 bucks for 9 or 10 strips.

From the testing i've done, one beer regestered under .02 (which is almost Nothing) and a Small glass of wine would probably be close to that.
and it takes about 30 minutes for that to get into your breast milk.

I don't know if you are pumping at all, but i have slowly worked up a supply for my freezer in case of emergencies and maybe an occasional date with hubby. and if i want to have a couple glasses of wine, then we use my frozen breastmilk for a feeding, and them i'm fine again by the next feeding.

Just remember, pumping and dumping doesnt work. If you still have alcohol in your blood, it will still be in what ever milk you produce.
on the up side. what ever milk is in your breast while your drinking will be good again as soon as your body works the alcohol out of your blood.

Obviously water is important for making milk, but I would be much more concerned with drinking coffee and pop than drinking wine. The amount of wine in your milk will be the same concentration it is in your blood. No harm to baby. I have found sometimes if I have had a very stressful day a half a glass of red wine helps my milk come down.

If you sleep with your baby, do not sleep next to baby if you've had too much to drink. I have had a little wine while nursing all my kids, no harm done. Since I have been lactating continually since 1997, it would be along time to go with NO wine ever just because of nursing if I did.

For your own health, look for things not made with corn syrup and so on.

You shouldn't drink if you are breastfeeding you child, you should drink water, plus it healthy for you. When your child is old enough, like when she is 1 than that is the time when you can start drinking again.

My LC told me one hour per drink. So if you drink one drink, wait one hour to nurse her. Two drinks two hours, etc.

If you're going to have one or two normal glasses of wine or beer -I wouldn't worry about it. I didn't with either of mine. Anything over that, I would pump and dump. I didn't breastfeed the youngest for too long, but with the oldest I kept a supply in the freezer, so if people were over or we went out, I could drink whatever I wanted, pump and dump it but have some to feed baby out of a bottle. I always had problems with milk supply, and unfortunately when I drank enough that I knew I needed to dump it -I had TONS of milk! I drink more than enough water regularly too! Anyway -one or twd drinks -not a biggie -any more -pump and dump for a night and resume the next day.