Washington Babies
Breastmilk and alcohol question
So I had my first post baby happy hour with the girls last night, woohoo!
I'm wondering about metabolizing alcohol and how long it may be in the breastmilk. I had 3 vodka drinks and finished the last one around 9 pm. I came home and went to bed, then got up at 4 am to pump. Do you think that milk is safe to use, or should I dump it?
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Re: Breastmilk and alcohol question
This. I bought Milkscreen strips that you use to test the milk. zyou express a couple drops onto the strip, or dip it into what you've pumped, if the strip changes color the alcohol levels are too high. I got them at Walgreens.
Jill is right on, alcohol rates are the same for your breath, blood or milk.
Alcohol metabolizes out of your body at about .015% per hour, or about one small drink an hour. If you know what your blood alcohol percentage was, you can count off of that. This site helps you figure it out: https://www.bloodalcoholcalculator.org/
Remember, you need to decide what you're comfortable with - any alcohol or no alcohol. If you're comfortable with a trace amount, you were probably okay this am. FWIW, every medical person I've heard said a trace amount of alcohol [i.e., less than the legal limit] is not going to hurt your baby as long as you're not doing it all day every day!