Drinking & BF'ing

foxlm22

Just curious:  do you at all?  If you do, what "rules" do you follow (wait two hours per drink, etc).

meg1974

I don't drink at all.

ncbelle

I only have a few times - mostly because I only really drink when we go out for a nice dinner and we haven't really done that much ;-)

I follow kellymom's "sober enough to drive, sober enough to nurse" rule.

Tonya_G

Yup. I'll have a drink after I nurse her, or in the evening when the chances of her waking are slim (she generally goes down around 8 and doesn't wake until 3 or so- plenty of time for it to metabolise out of my system). I don't get drunk, usually stick to only one drink, though I occasionally partake of two.

goodheartedmommy

I stuck with a drink or two while breastfeeding, though it was more because of co-sleeping than breastfeeding (I did not want to sleep with a baby while hammered).

TabithaGoins

I haven't had a drink this whole time, I rarely ever had a drink before though.  I used to just order virgin drinks anyways ,

jkalmommy2b

I'll have a couple of glasses of wine occasionally (like once a month or so) and I just go by the rule that if I'm feeling buzzed, I don't bf.  I also usually wait until there's a small chance of DD waking up.

ErinMSB

goodheartedmommy:

I stuck with a drink or two while breastfeeding, though it was more because of co-sleeping than breastfeeding (I did not want to sleep with a baby while hammered).

This. Although there were a couple times when I knew I would not be bedsharing (DD was at Gma's) and I pumped and dumped.

I took a breastfeeding class for my doula certification and learned that we as a society are way too worried about this. The amount of alcohol that the baby actually consumes through breastmilk is miniscule. (But I'm not encouraging BFing moms to drink, just trying to curb flaming for those who do it responsibly.)

akl0506

I will have one drink after I nurse him, a few times a week.  I also follow sober enough to drive, sober enough to nurse.  This is what the RN who taught our BF class told us.  Additionally, she mentioned that wine and beer were better than hard alcohol, so I stick to either wine or beer. 

webMistress0609

I drink a glass of red wine once or twice a week. I usually wait until Ari goes to bed but have occasionally had a a 1/2 glass with dinner.

foxlm22

I follow about the same as most of you.  A drink or two hand there but not too often.  I have to admit, this might sound horrible, but I would LOVE a free night where I could maybe get a tiny bit tipsy!  I haven't been since I started trying to get pregnant!  Lol.

JulyFiveBride

I've only had one beer since DD1 was born (that I split it with DH) and the occasional sip of wine. We co-sleep, so drinking is rarely an option. I think the sober enough to drive, sober enough to nurse rule is a good one, although I am pretty conservative about how much I will drink and still drive.

MissyOlivePants

ncbelle:

I follow kellymom's "sober enough to drive, sober enough to nurse" rule.

This is the rule I follow.

nsuhomer

ncbelle:

I only have a few times - mostly because I only really drink when we go out for a nice dinner and we haven't really done that much ;-)

I follow kellymom's "sober enough to drive, sober enough to nurse" rule.

This.  I rarely can get through one glass of wine these days though.

Osgirl

I don't drink too often, but if I do I'll usually have 2, maybe 3 beers. Typically it's after she's in bed for the night, but if she's awake I'm fine with it too.

MrsAmers

Tonya_G:

Yup. I'll have a drink after I nurse her, or in the evening when the chances of her waking are slim (she generally goes down around 8 and doesn't wake until 3 or so- plenty of time for it to metabolise out of my system). I don't get drunk, usually stick to only one drink, though I occasionally partake of two.

This.

jade_sweatpea

I don't

lanie30

Yep. If you're sober enough to drive you're sober enough to breastfeed.

momofolivia

i rarely drank when I was BFing, but just because i am not a big drinker. 

cindy453

I drink wine on a fairly regular basis. Emmy is pretty good about having a longer stretch first thing, and we always have frozen milk if she happens to wake up and I think I've had too much to drink. I don't get like... pass out on the couch drunk (does anybody, after college? lol) but I occasionally get tipsy. We still have over 100oz of frozen milk in the deep freeze, I might as well use it

FWIW, if I drank more than 1 glass of wine Emmy would sleep with my H (though now she's in a crib, so moot point)- we never both have a glass of wine on the same night. Oh, and I didn't feel comfortable doing that until she was 6ish months or so- she nursed too much when she was smaller than that. Before 6 months I rarely drank. 

norbert5

I drink, I stick to wine or beer though and have one or two glasses.  It was one of those choices that my husband and I made together.  We did the research and felt good about our choice.

MainLineEsbee

MissyOlivePants:

ncbelle:

I follow kellymom's "sober enough to drive, sober enough to nurse" rule.

This is the rule I follow.

Me too. And my Lactation Consultant advised to never waste milk by "pumping & dumping." Totally unnecessary.

margauxlicious

I had 2 beers in 2 hours the other night at a friends house.  I pumped (DD was at my mom's house) about 15 minutes after I had my last beer.  I felt relaxed but hardly buzzed or drunk.

I tested my milk with the testing strips that can detect alcohol in BM and it was instantly positive!

Now I don't know what to think.  I certainly felt ok to drive so there goes my thinking of "ok to drive ok to breastfeed".