How Long After Drinking Before Breastfeeding?
February 5, 2010 by admin
Filed under Breast Feeding Supplies
If my wife and I go out and have a few drinks how long should she wait before breastfeeding? I dont mean getting smashed just 3-4 drinks.
Comments
10 Responses to “How Long After Drinking Before Breastfeeding?”Speak Your Mind
Tell us what you're thinking...and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
How To Choose The Gender Of Your Baby
I just attended my breastfeeding class last week and they told us that first of all, it will only take one or two drinks to have her feeling loopy after having not drank for 9 months…secondly, the general rule is 3 for 1: you have to wait and pump 3 hours for every drink ie: if you have one drink wait 3 three hours and pump and dump…two drinks wait another 3 hours and pump and dump again…so what this means is that your wife needs to have pumped a few times and stored it prior to going out drinking. the other general rule is that if you are SURE you don’t feel ANY effects of the alcohol it is probably OK.
have your wife store bottles of milk,before drinking .it is never safe to breastfeed after drinking it could give your baby alcohol poisoning or worse starve the babies brain of valuable nutrients… i would STRONGLY recommend talking to your doctor or go to web MD.com for answers.
She, and you, should know better that she should not be drinking at all when she is breastfeeding. Why would you intentionally want to damage your baby?
If she is breast feeding, she needs to make sure she pumps enough out for at least a days worth before going out and drinking. Then pump out for the remainder of that day and the next to make sure the baby won’t get any contact with the alcohol.
After 1-2 *normal* sized drinks, she can nurse immediately. After more than that, she needs to wait about 2-3 hours. There is no need to “pump and dump” (unless for *her* comfort)–when the milk leaves her body, it *leaves* her body!! (Her breasts *are* still attached, right?) If she’s sober enough to drive, she can nurse.
I am adding a link to Dr. Thomas Hale’s Web site (see sources section below). Dr. Hale is the world’s foremost expert on drugs and breastfeeding; you can take his word before that of anyone else in the world, let alone a stranger here. You may need to sign in as “guest” to use the site, but you don’t have to give any personal information.
I was just looking at your question since I expect that I’ll be doing the same in about 5 months…I think I read more of the 3 hour rule…and pump and dump.
I vote the best answer to be the chick that saw a breastfeeding specialist at the hospital.
From the LLL (La Leche League) book of Breastfeeding…
IF you don’t feel it, then you can nurse. I had a few beers one night while BF’ing my son, and I didn’t fell woozy or sick or like I had a buzz…and it was safe to nurse…IF she doesn’t want to OR feels a buzz, pump but DON”T dump!! Just label the bag, and freeze it!!
The amount of alcohol that passes into breastmilk is relatively small. As a general rule, if you are sober enough to drive, you are sober enough to breastfeed. There is not necessarily a need to pump and dump…the amount of alcohol in the milk will gradually decrease without having to pump. However, your wife might want to keep it down to something more like 1-2 drinks rather than 3-4.
Here’s a link for you with lots of information:http://www.kellymom.com/health/lifestyle…
This is like asking if you wait for 3 hours before going pee, will your urine test still come back positive? Yes, and the alcohol can still be in the milk for several hours.
Safer bet is to pump some before you go out and have it ready for bottle feeding until the alcohol is out of mom’s system.
Your wife should wait 2-3 hours after drinking to feed. But from personal experience, 3-4 drinks will probably have her smashed. I had a beer (my first in almost a year) and was buzzed…before baby I would not have felt it. My non-breastfeeding friend had the same experience. Your wife may end up being a cheap date. http://www.kellymom.com has a more information about breastfeeding and alcohol. check it out.