Breast feeding and booze

[@llli*tampamama]

Please don't shoot me for asking this question.... We are taking a trip this weekend with several families. The husbands are all friends from high school and college. This is our fourth year taking this trip and it is always hard for me. My husband's first wife passed away 5 years ago leaving him and my (I call them mine because I love them like my own) two older girls. This was a trip he took with his late wife for many years. All of these friends knew her. Anyhow...It ends up feeling stressful because he only sees a few of these guys once a year and they are not terribly supportive of the girls calling me "mommy" and being attached to me, etc. DH and I have talked, he stands up for me, it's all mostly good in that regard. However, everyone on this trip trip drinks from sunup to sundown. Not crazy hammered drinking, just "always have a beer in your hand and feelin kinda loose" drinking. So last year stunk because I was pregnant and could drink nothing (these guys are easier to take after a drink or two....) I am trying to figure out how to handle this year. Obviously I can't have a beer in my hand all day. I know the official recommendations to have one or two drinks then wait a few hours to nurse but LO wants to nurse every hour in the evenings so that doesn't really work. Realistically, what are my options? The most important thing is to keep LO healthy and not to wreck my supply so if that means abstaining or mostly abstaining, ok. Just want some thoughts from you ladies. Please don't hate me for wanting to have a few beers

Also, I could conceivably take some frozen milk for a bottle or two but we are really limited on space so taking a pump would be tough.

[@llli*still.here]

Honestly, I think if you aren't chugging down beers and getting a heavy buzz going you'll be fine. Your milk will have the same BAC as your blood. The general rule is that if you can drive you can nurse.

[@llli*randiocoy]

I agree. If you feel it baby can. You can buy test strips from Target to test milk for alcohol too. But I will have a beer and nurse and I don't think twice about it. For me personally I stick to 1-2 beers with in a couple hours. You could have 1-2 beers wait a few hours and repeat. Drinking plenty of water in between. Just making sure you are really sober and not tipsy.

[@llli*mercystreet]

I have had events (holidays, family gatherings) where I enjoy several glasses of wine, spread out over the course of several or many hours, and nursed just fine. I drink lots of water too, like the PP suggests, and follow the "if you can drive, you can nurse" rule of thumb. I tend to drink my wine very slowly anyway, so I don't worry too much about timing my nursing -- I just figure that since I'm taking it slow and never feel impaired or really affected by the alcohol, my milk is fine for baby. I was also a little more vigilant about timing my glass of wine and my nursing for LO's first few months, but once he got a little older that didn't seem so critical (although that might just be a subjective perception on my part, and others may feel better playing it very safe for the duration of their breastfeeding). Anyway, I think you should enjoy your drinks in moderation, within your comfort level.

[@llli*still.here]

No, you're right. In the early months babies can't metabolize even the small amounts of alcohol they'd get from breastmilk, so I think it's up to 3 months old you are supposed to be more careful about it (plus their eating patterns are less predictable before then). I worried less the older my kids got, for a lot of reasons- they were easier to distract if I felt like I should wait longer to nurse, they were less reliant on milk as their only/main source of nutrition, the volume they were drinking per session was lower, etc...

[@llli*tampamama]

Thanks ladies. I really appreciate the nonjudgemental responses I may even set a timer for myself. I worry a little about being in the hot sun all day and losing track! Or maybe I'll just wait til we all gather in the evening for dinner to allow myself a couple drinks. I can play that by ear. Just nice to hear I don't have to panic too much!

[@llli*mommal]

You might want to invest in some low-alcohol or non-alcoholic beer. That way you can enjoy the social aspect of the trip without having to worry as much about where you are on the fine-to-tipsy spectrum, or how fast you're downing your drink. Not saying you need to only drink the softer stuff, just that it can come in handy if everyone else is drinking beer and you don't feel like being the only one without something in your hand, but at the same time you also feel like you shouldn't have anything more to drink.

[@llli*sprocket]

What has worked well for me is to just drink really, really slowly. And food really helps, too. I find that I will open a beer or pour a glass of wine, and if I drink slowly enough, I get to have something in my hand and enjoy it for a long time, and by the time the baby wants to nurse, I have only had maybe 1/2 of a drink, which I am very comfortable with. Then I will enjoy the other half knowing that by the next time she nurses, I will have had a whole drink, but with plenty of time elapsed since. I'll have one, or on occasion, two drinks like that over the course of an evening, and I don't worry about it in the slightest.

[@llli*iritita]

Here is some info I got from the following link: http://www.infantrisk.com/content/al...-breastfeeding

1. Alcohol enters milk freely.
2. One drink includes: 12 oz of 5% beer, or 5 oz of 11% wine, or 1.5 oz of 40% liquor (80 proof).
3. The peak level in milk is likely to occur about 1 hour after consumption.
4. Alcohol leaves the milk compartment as the mother’s blood alcohol levels drop.
5. Alcohol present in pumped milk is permanent. Discard the milk.
6. Waiting “about” 2 hours per drink is required for complete metabolism of alcohol in a 180 pound female. For more accurate assessments, use the nomogram attached.
7. Techniques such as drinking more water, taking caffeine, exercising, pumping and discarding of milk, etc. to enhance metabolism/clearance of alcohol do not work. Only time will eliminate alcohol.
8. Elixirs that contain ethanol can lead to blood alcohol levels similar to those seen by taking one alcoholic drink.
9. Storing milk before drinking is another way to make sure your infant is not exposed to alcohol.
10. Nothing can replace human breast milk as a source of nourishment for your child, therefore careful planning before drinking is advised over formula use.

[@llli*tallmadre]

Hey,

This isn't about the alcohol, but I wanted to let you know, that in your scenario, I am basically your own LO. I'm the product of my dad's second marriage. His first wife passed away when my sister was little and then he married my mom and they had me. There were a number of people, mainly my sister's birth family, who protested and were unhappy about it. I just wanted to let you know that I know it's a pain in the ass to put up with, but I think you're doing the best thing possible by being a strong presence in your older girls' lives. If they want to have a close relationship with you, then you're giving them something wonderful. Don't let the naysayers get you down.