Expert: Sally Wendkos Olds - 9/11/2004

Question
I want to go out and have a few drinks, my baby is 4 weeks old.  I have been told that i have to pump for 48 hours after to insure that i dont give any alcohol to the baby.  Please advise.

Answer
Dear Amy:

First, congratulations for giving your baby the best start in life by breastfeeding!

As far as alcoholic drinks during lactation are concerned, below is the advice I give in THE COMPLETE BOOK OF BREASTFEEDING (Eiger & Olds, 3rd edition 1999, published by Workman Publishing & Bantam Books), which is available from most public libraries, bookstores & La Leche League chapters.

Your baby is still very young. To safeguard his or her health, it would be better not to have "a few drinks," but to stop with one and to observe the safeguards listed here. Remember, you have the rest of your life to drink -- but the period when you are nursing your baby is relatively brief.

Good luck!

Sally Wendkos Olds
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A 120-pound woman will need about 2 1/2 hours to metabolize the amount of alcohol in one drink. One drink consists of 1.5 ounces of 86-proof alcohol, 5 ounces of wine, or 12 ounces of beer.
  If you do drink, safeguard your baby's health by doing the following:
  *  Before drinking, express or pump and store your alcohol-free breastmilk, to feed to your baby if insufficient time has elapsed between your last drink and the baby's feeding. Express or pump your post-drinking milk and discard it until enough time has elapsed.
  * Do not drink more than your self-imposed limit.
  * Choose drinks low in alcohol (like a champagne punch or small glass of wine or beer), or those diluted with water, juice, or ice cream.
  * Drink slowly. Sip from one drink all evening.
  * Eat before and during drinking.
  * Be sure your drinks are measured when poured.
  * Order juice or a soft drink instead of taking an alcoholic drink you don't want. You can always tell friends that your baby is under the legal age for drinking.
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Alcohol in moderation is a relaxant; in excess it acts as a depressant. In recent years most health care professionals have advised women not to drink any alcohol during the entire duration of pregnancy. What about during lactation?
  Moderate amounts of alcohol -- a couple of glasses of beer or wine in a week, or a cocktail -- will probably not have any ill effects on your nursing baby. For years, nursing women have been advised to drink alcohol, especially beer, to produce more milk. However, research has contradicted this bit of folklore.
  When nursing women drank a small amount of alcohol, their babies sucked more frequently during the first minute of the post-alcohol feedings but they consumed less milk during the next three to four hours. Since adult panelists could smell a difference in the milk produced by the alcohol-drinking mothers, it's possible that the babies didn't like the taste of the alcohol-containing milk, and therefore took in less. Also, the babies slept more fitfully when their mothers drank alcohol; they took more frequent naps during the day, but slept for shorter periods of time. They may, then, have drunk less milk because they were sleepy. Still, no permanent harm seemed to have been done to these babies.
  Heavy drinking, however, is another story altogether. It can affect your ability to care for your baby, and it can make your nursing baby drowsy by depressing the nervous system. Even daily social drinking is questionable. If, at any time while you are lactating, you expect to attend an event where you may engage in social drinking, you can minimize the effect on your baby by following the suggestions given above.