Can i drink while breast feeding

While warnings are often given not to consume alcohol during pregnancy due to evidence that it could cause damage to an unborn child, the risks of consuming alcohol while breastfeeding have not received as much research attention.

A number of studies have focused on the effects of alcohol on lactation and the infant, but long-term outcomes are still unknown. Especially when it is consumed in large amounts, alcohol can cause drowsiness, deep sleep, weakness, and abnormal weight gain in the infant.

There is also possibility of decreased milk-ejection reflex in the mother. No harmful effects to babies have been found when breastfeeding mothers drink no more than one drink a day. Depending on how much alcohol you consume before you nurse your baby, may experience a number of effects from the alcohol in your milk.

Even a small to moderate amount of alcohol may impair milk production and the milk ejection reflex. Some of the negative effects in the baby may be:. Potentially, depending on how much you drink and when you nurse your baby after drinking, there may be other, more severe effects on your baby as well.

As a result, the guidance on drinking and nursing is changing. We go into more detail below. The highest alcohol levels in milk occur 30 to 60 minutes after an alcoholic beverage, but food delays the time of peak milk alcohol levels. Nursing or pumping within 1 hour before ingesting alcohol may slightly reduce the subsequent amounts of alcohol in breastmilk.

Infants exposed to a significant amount of alcohol 0. REM sleep is also disrupted. In the following hour period, sleep patterns continued to be disrupted as the infant makes up for the earlier disruption. In addition, the research showed that during times when the infants were awake, they were less active [3].

Here are some common questions people ask with recommendations supported by the evidence available. Below, we will answer these questions and look at the possible impacts of drinking alcohol while breastfeeding in more detail.

Pumping and dumping will not remove the alcohol from your bloodstream, so it will not affect the alcohol level in your milk. While a barley component in beer—not the alcohol—does boost prolactin production [4], alcohol alone does so as well [5] However, in one study, milk production was actually decreased [6].

The research shows that nursing infants actually consumed less milk in the three-to-four-hour period after mothers consumed a small to moderate amount of alcohol [7,8,9].

Menella also found that when pumping milk two hours after drinking alcohol, mothers obtained significantly less milk [8]. Current evidence shows that, rather than producing more milk for your baby by drinking alcohol, the effects of alcohol on your body actually mean your baby will get less of your valuable milk.

Why is this? Mennella, Pepino, and Teff [5] found that alcohol significantly reduces oxytocin levels while also increasing prolactin levels. Both hormones influence the milk ejection reflex. The lower the level of oxytocin, the longer the delay in ejection of milk. The higher the level of prolactin, the longer the delay.

The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine state in Clinical Protocol 21 that consuming alcohol during lactation has several negative effects ranging from mild to severe. As alcohol is completely water- and fat-soluble, it enters the bloodstream and human milk very easily [13]. Another review, conducted by Nonacs [14], showed that motor development of infants who were exposed to alcohol in human milk regularly was decreased or delayed.

The more alcohol the infants consumed through breast milk, the lower the infants scored on indices of motor development. Depending on how much you drink, in addition to the effects on your milk production and ejection reflex, you can expect some degree of other effects on yourself.

Alcohol produces sedative effects as well as some stimulant effects. There is some evidence that suggests that people who are currently lactating may metabolize alcohol more quickly than non-lactating people. There is clear evidence that eating food while consuming alcohol also reduces blood alcohol levels after consumption.

Drinking alcohol on an empty stomach increases the effects of alcohol on prolactin and oxytocin as well as on your body [17]. You should not sleep with your baby if you have been drinking alcohol, as your natural reflexes have been impaired. By interfering with your milk ejection reflex, alcohol may further reduce your milk production: without this reflex, your baby cannot nurse and empty the breast effectively. When milk stays in the breasts, it tells your body to reduce production.

Several sources offer safety suggestions to consider when breastfeeding and drinking alcohol. Please check with your Ministry of Health or other pertinent government resource for appropriate information in your country. Thomas W. Hale, R. This does not necessarily mean the dose of alcohol in milk is high, only that the levels in plasma correspond closely with those in milk.

The absolute amount dose of alcohol transferred into milk is generally low and is a function of the maternal level. You may have heard of women pumping breast milk immediately after drinking alcohol and discarding it. If you plan to drink alcohol and know your baby will be hungry within the two-hour window after you drink, you can always pump ahead of time.

If the baby is hungry within two hours after you drink a moderate amount of alcohol and you did not pump ahead, it is likely safe to breast-feed. Again, the amount of alcohol transferred to your baby through breast milk is so low there are no known problems, complications, or issues.

At moderate levels one drink per day , alcohol has no known complications or side effects for babies, especially if the mother waits two hours after drinking to breast-feed or pump. Exposure to alcohol above this moderate level, however, may lead to delayed development, growth problems, and interrupted sleep patterns for the infant. Despite the all-clear from leading health organizations , some studies have raised concerns that low-level drinking may cause issues for babies, even if they are not long-term and chronic.

For example, one very small, older study from found that infants who had alcohol via breast milk slept for 25 percent less time than infants who did not have breast milk with alcohol. Another study from , which is often cited among groups who do not think mothers should drink while breast-feeding, concluded that one-year-olds who had been exposed to alcohol via breast milk in their first year of life had lower scores in motor skill development than children who were not exposed to alcohol.

However, the researchers were unable to replicate those findings in a follow-up study six months after their initial findings. In short, research does not suggest that infants experience any negative side effects or complications if their mothers have a drink occasionally. Alcohol will be in breast milk as long as alcohol is in your blood. The length of time alcohol will be in your blood and breast milk will increase as you drink more alcohol.

In moderate drinking terms, one drink is defined as:. Keep in mind that some high-gravity beers have higher alcohol by volume ABV ratings, and drinking one of these is the equivalent to drinking more than one drink. For example, 12 ounces of beer with 9 percent alcohol contains as much alcohol as two standard drinks. These are general guidelines. How long alcohol will be in your bloodstream and breast milk depends on several factors, including:.

You cannot speed up the process. Drinking water will help you feel hydrated and more alert, but it will not increase the speed at which your liver metabolizes liquor. Not drinking alcohol is the safest option, of course. Error Email field is required. Error Include a valid email address. To provide you with the most relevant and helpful information and to understand which information is beneficial, we may combine your e-mail and website usage information with other information we have about you.

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