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3rd Trimester
Drinking and BF - help me out, science ladies
Okay so over on the 0 - 3 board, a woman posted asking about drinking and BF since she was turning 21 soon. In the comments someone posted about how you don't need to dump what you pump even if you're pumping after consuming alcohol, you just put the pumped, boozy milk in the fridge and after several hours the alcohol will have metabolized. I, along with several others, were sort of mystified by this, thinking that the body did the metabolizing, not the milk. Another woman posted saying her LC said the same thing, to just save what you pumped for later use.
So can anyone help me out with this?
Edited to add: I'm not looking for ways to get drunk, or asking if I can feed spiked BM to LO. The thing that mystified me was the BM being able to metabolize alcohol while OUT of your body.
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Re: Drinking and BF - help me out, science ladies
If you feel the effects of alcohol you should not BF or pump and give that to the baby.
I have drank while BF and usually stick to the 1 drink, 1 bottle of water rule. I am not drinking to get drunk either though.
I hadn't heard that one. I just start drinking once he's in bed for the night
(not that I have that many either)
I have no idea about the alcohol magically disappearing in the fridge...however, my LC did say that alcohol in your milk supply is much like alcohol in your blood.
Therefore, you don't have to pump and dump when you've just had one or two and you're feeling fine. However, if you're feeling tipsy then you should wait until you are normal again. If you're drunk, then dump.
DD1 born 5/24/10.
Missed M/C at 14 wks Feb 2012.
DD2 born 5/14/13.
Missed M/C at 9 wks July 2015.
I don't understand that logic.
The alcohol metabolizes because your body processes it out of your system. How could the alcohol be metabolized by sitting in a bottle in the fridge? Does it just disappear???
Seems goofy to me!
I have read that alcohol is metabolized out of your BM at the same rate as your blood, so 2-3 hours or so after you last drink (assuming you have a few or so) your milk should no longer be spiked!
Zachary Ryan - 1/13/08 - 6lbs 15oz, 20.5 inches
Lilia Rose - 5/11/10 - 8lbs 6oz, 21 inches
See, this is what I know too, that it metabolizes in your milk supply but I always assumed it had to still be IN your body for the alcohol to leave your milk, you know? For the BM to do the metabolizing all on its own seems strange. Can blood metabolize alcohol after it's been drawn from the body?
Because, if this woman was right then... if I make a white russian with breastmilk and put it in the fridge a week, will the BM eventually metabolize all the liquor? LOL.
I find this fascinating!! I want to try my BM white russian experiment now...
I have also heard that it metabolizes after being pumped and stored. Weird.
Also, FYI - they make test strips that you can use to test your breast milk for alcohol. They are called milkscreen and apparently you can buy them at Walgreen's. I would never have known that such a thing existed if I had not received some of the test strips with a baby gift the other day from a co-worker.
Everything I've heard & read says to wait at least 2-3hrs after your last drink before pumping/BF'ing. Once it's out of your blood stream, it's out of your milk.
I haven't heard anything say it's ok to pump & store the milk though.
ummm... no.
your body has to metabolize alcohol... if i put a bottle of wine in the fridge, two hours later it will have the same alcoholic content... if i pour alcohol into a bottle of milk, it will also still have the same content two hours later.
alcohol is not stored in breast milk in the body (in other words, you don't need to pump and dump, just wait to feed or pump until you are sober again.)
This. My lactation consultant said there is no need to pump and dump as long as your not wasted and yes it will metabolize. I can't remember exactly how she explained it but she did cover that and that yes it will metabolize in the bottle. Also she said to not waste your money on those test strips.
Unless someone can come up with actual evidence better than "my lc/ob/midwife/doc/cousin told me so", I don't buy this at all. It sounds suspiciously like someone is misinterpreting resources that say things like "if you've had one standard drink, all of the alcohol will be out of your breast milk 2 hours later." The little tiny bit of research I just did seems to indicate that these kinds of resources are based on this article - https://content.karger.com/ProdukteDB/produkte.asp?Aktion=ShowPDF&ArtikelNr=47146&Ausgabe=227459&ProduktNr=224215&filename=47146.pdf and this article https://www.cfpc.ca/cfp/2002/Jan/vol48-jan-clinical-1.asp . These articles are clearly talking about alcohol being removed from the mother's breast milk while it is in her body.
Edited to make clicky and to add two things - 1 - here is a neat calculator that estimates when there is zero alcohol in your breast milk https://www.obfocus.com/calculators/alcoholinmilk.htm
And 2 - this still doesn't necessarily mean that I think you can't use your milk/feed your baby if you've had 1 drink.
I don't think it's the refrigeration, I think it's the BM itself, as a human fluid, that does the metabolizing. I'm thinking that if it is true, it's because there are already enzymes in the BM that do the work.
Oh I know (it was intended to be TIC), but I'm still skeptical.