I’m breastfeeding, but I’d like to have a few drinks. Is this safe for my baby?
While the WIC Program advises against drinking alcohol for your health and your baby's health, it's good that you're making sure to be safe!
If you are going to drink alcohol, try to plan ahead using these tips:
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Having pumped milk stored in advance
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Make sure your baby is in the care of a responsible, sober adult
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Avoid breastfeeding when drinking (see guidelines below)
Alcohol passes from your bloodstream into your breastmilk. Alcohol levels are usually highest about 30-60 minutes after having a drink. Levels gradually go down, over a period of 2-3 hours, which is the amount of time (on average) it takes your body to process one standard drink. Two drinks takes 4-5 hours and three drinks takes 6-8 hours to process. It’s important to note that many common drinks contain more alcohol than what is considered a “standard drink.”
These are the average times it takes for alcohol to leave your body and breastmilk. Things like how much and how fast you drank alcohol, if you had food with it, how much you weigh, and how long it takes your body to process the alcohol, determine when it's okay to breastfeed after drinking. Usually, if you still feel the effects of alcohol, it's not safe to breastfeed.
Pumping doesn’t get rid of alcohol in the breastmilk. “Pumping and dumping” does not make your body process the alcohol faster. If breastfeeding needs to be interrupted for more than a couple hours, you will still want to pump to protect your milk supply, but that milk should be thrown away.
Let your peer counselor know if you would like our breastfeeding specialist (IBCLC) and nurse to provide more information or answer any questions about drinking alcohol and breastfeeding.
SOURCE:
Additional Resource:
https://wicbreastfeeding.fns.usda.gov/breastfeeding-and-alcohol-drugs-and-smoking