5 minutes reading
Is it possible to have a drink while breastfeeding your baby? Many breastfeeding mothers have already asked themselves this question. Drinking occasionally because of a family celebration, consequences of regular consumption... We give you 5 pieces of information to know in order to make your choice in all conscience.
Just as alcohol passes into the bloodstream of the woman who is going to consume it, it passes into the milk she produces for her baby. The calculated levels seem to be identical. Thus, if you drink 2 glasses of wine at 12°, your blood alcohol level will be around 0.05g/kg, and the same will be true for your milk.
Of course, this small calculation also depends on several characteristics:
The milk that your baby might take in will therefore be slightly alcoholic.
The alcohol in the milk will be diluted at the same rate as in your blood. Thus, for the consumption indicated above, it will take you at least 4 hours to eliminate all traces of alcohol in your blood, and therefore in your milk.
Note: a table to find out the time of elimination of alcohol in milk.
Alcoholic breast milk, however, does not undergo any change in its composition apart from the presence of alcohol. It would also appear that the taste of the milk is not affected by the intake of an alcoholic drink(Alcohol Clin Exp Res 1997; 21: 581-85). A baby who consumes his mother's milk after she has drunk alcohol may not take much of it and may have a kind of "rejection", the reasons for which are surely elsewhere than in the taste, as we shall indicate in the rest of this article.
According to the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics), if occasional drinking is planned, it is best to feed the baby just before drinking. In this way, the infant benefits from non-alcoholic milk.
Afterwards, it is best to wait at least 2 to 3 hours before breastfeeding again. If you have only had one or two glasses of alcohol, the level in your blood (and therefore also in your milk) will have dropped significantly. If you are planning to drink more alcohol, it is best to express your milk first. You can then give your milk to your baby in another way while your blood and milk eliminate the alcohol.
Hormonal changes have been observed in nursing mothers who have consumed alcohol.
In fact, during the first few hours after drinking alcohol, the level of oxytocin (the hormone that triggers the milk ejection reflex) falls by an average of 78%. At the same time, the level of prolactin (the hormone responsible for making milk) increases by about 336%.
The main risk is that the baby will become very engorged, as it will be difficult for the milk to come out in larger quantities. Be prepared for a feeling of very full breasts and perhaps discomfort that can lead to engorgement. It may be necessary to have your baby feed several times to get back to normal feedings.
However, due to the hormonal effects seen above, his feeding rhythm may be disrupted if he is unable to suckle sufficiently due to an inhibited ejection reflex.
By consuming alcoholic milk, the baby will also have some alcohol in his blood, but his level will be further reduced by the additional dilution that will take place when the milk components pass into his blood.
If alcohol consumption is frequent, drowsiness in the baby and deleterious effects may occur. And let's not forget the harmful effects on the mother herself. In such cases, do not hesitate to seek help to prevent this situation from taking hold.
Drinking alcohol is not forbidden when breastfeeding, but it can have an effect on milk production and on the baby. It is therefore preferable to keep alcohol consumption to a minimum and to take every precaution to limit the impact on breastfeeding and your baby's health.
To go further:
https://www.alcool-info-service.fr/alcool-et-vous/alcool-grossesse/allaitement-alcool#.XCYIC1xKiyL
https://info-allaitement.org/ressources-en-ligne/allaitement-et-alcool/
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