Alcohol while breastfeeding. Alcohol during breastfeeding - Komarovsky on the effect of alcohol on the child’s body

Everyone knows that drinking alcoholic beverages is contraindicated for women during pregnancy, since alcohol can adversely affect the development of an unborn child and lead to irreversible consequences.

The issue of drinking alcoholic beverages during breastfeeding has not been studied as thoroughly. It is not completely known how it affects the composition of milk and the child. Of course, there is no benefit from drinking such drinks, let's take a closer look at how long it takes for alcohol to be removed from breast milk and what a nursing mother who is about to drink should know.

• alcoholic drinks have the strongest effect on newborns, since their liver is not yet fully formed;
• in babies from 1 to 3 months, alcoholic drinks stay in the body twice as long as in an adult;
• the greater a person’s body weight, the faster alcohol is eliminated from him;
• the harmful effects of alcoholic beverages depend on the amount drunk; if you drink during a meal, the intoxicating drink will enter the bloodstream in smaller quantities.

Does alcohol help normalize sleep and increase milk production?

Scientists have proven that alcohol-containing drinks are not able to increase lactation; in addition, in a mother who drank, the baby latch on to the breast more often, but eats much smaller portions.

Another common myth is that if a mother drinks a little, she and the baby will sleep well. Let's dispel this assumption by considering the process of alcohol's effect on the central nervous system.

Unsystematic consumption of intoxicating drinks by a mentally healthy person provokes a state of relaxation and loss of control over oneself, then this state is replaced by suppression of the nervous system. A person falls asleep faster, but the body will be in a state of deep sleep for a short time, which will lead to the fact that a drunk person will not fully rest. In such cases, children often wake up at night and cry.

Does alcohol pass into mother's milk?

It has been proven that alcohol passes into breast milk quite quickly. Its concentration becomes maximum after 30–60 minutes have passed if you drink on an empty stomach and after 90 minutes if you eat food.

Scientists from the Institute of Nutrition have found that about 10 parts of alcoholic beverages enter and remain in breast milk. If a woman is breastfeeding while intoxicated, the baby involuntarily also receives an alcoholic drink.

Before you decide to drink, remember that alcohol-containing drinks will quickly enter not only the mother’s blood, but also the baby’s diet. There will be a toxic effect of harmful substances on a fragile body, regardless of how much the nursing mother drinks.

How do alcoholic drinks affect infants?

Why do pediatricians prohibit nursing mothers from drinking alcohol? There are many valid reasons for this, let's look at them in more detail:

• One of the common phenomena in young children is intestinal colic. The health of the baby directly depends on what a nursing mother eats or drinks. Beer will cause diarrhea, red wine can cause allergic rashes, vodka contains harmful toxins that can cause severe poisoning;
• the alcohol contained in any drink will provoke depression of the baby’s nervous system, so you are guaranteed to cry, whims, lethargy and bad mood of the baby;
• appetite decreases;
• the incompletely formed liver of babies is practically unable to break down alcohol, toxic poisoning is possible;
• The gastrointestinal tract may also be affected - the mucous membranes of the intestines, esophagus and stomach may become inflamed, after which the absorption of nutrients and vitamins will be impaired;
• alcoholic drinks can give milk an unpleasant taste and a pungent odor;
• Blood pressure decreases, lethargy and weakness appear.

How long does it take to leave milk?

It is important for mothers to know that expressing breast milk immediately after drinking alcohol is pointless. Alcohol can pass from the chest into the bloodstream and back again. The concentration will decrease only after it decreases in the blood. If you decide to drink large amounts of water, strong tea and coffee, these measures will not help reduce the concentration of alcohol in the body.

An important rule for a nursing mother who has been drinking: after drinking alcohol, you should not feed your baby milk until you have completely sobered up. This happens 4-8 hours after you drink alcohol.

If a child regularly experiences depression of consciousness under the influence of alcohol, after a couple of months it will be noticeable that he lags behind his peers, both mentally and physically.

Is there a safe dose?

No, no matter how much alcohol a nursing mother drinks, the drink will pose a potential danger to the child’s well-being. The more you drink, the more harm you risk causing to your baby due to negligence. Breast milk needs to be expressed and prepared in advance, preferably for several feedings if you know that a celebration is planned and you may be drinking. You need to take care of this in advance.

If you feel fullness in your chest after drinking alcohol, express and pour out this milk, and feed your baby with the milk prepared in advance.

How can a woman's alcoholism affect her child?

• insufficient body weight, the child slowly gains weight and grows;
• interruption of lactation due to insufficient milk production;
• Irregular sleep and nutrition are the consequences of the lethargy, apathetic state of the baby.

Dear mothers, if you realize your increased craving for alcohol, it is better to consult a doctor immediately. If the majority of the company drinks, you can make yourself non-alcoholic cocktails and drink them, garnished with a cherry, cream or an umbrella.

Alcohol and loss of control

A mother who is under the influence of alcohol poses a danger to her child not only because she can feed her baby “drunk” milk. Even after drinking a minimal amount, any person will not be able to look after the child, since attention will be distracted and coordination of movements will be impaired, which can lead to bruises or other types of injuries.

In such a situation, it is safer to leave the baby under the supervision of the grandmother or other relatives. It is difficult to imagine how many accidents happen to children while their parents are intoxicated.

A dubious pleasure that negatively affects health is not worth the health and well-being of the child. It is better to give up alcohol completely during breastfeeding, since the harm caused to children at an early age is difficult to correct and treat.

Lyudmila Sergeevna Sokolova

Reading time: 6 minutes

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Article last updated: 04/29/2019

Any breastfeeding woman should know that everything she eats or drinks is passed on to her baby through breast milk. Therefore, alcohol taken by the mother can cause significant harm to the newborn. However, some ladies can hardly resist missing one glass of wine or drinking a little beer, especially since the period of natural feeding lasts quite a long time, and during this time there are many holidays or friendly gatherings, where strong drinks are almost always present. And before drinking, a woman must understand for herself that breastfeeding and alcohol are far from compatible concepts.

The effect of alcoholic beverages on the body of a nursing woman

It has long been known that alcohol is poorly compatible with the weaker sex, because the female body is structured somewhat differently than the male. While men can tolerate a certain amount of alcohol, women get drunk many times faster. And body weight is not the only indicator. The bottom line is that the body of the stronger sex has more fluid and less fat, and water actually reduces the amount of ethanol in the blood, but the presence of a fat layer, on the contrary, increases the effect of drinking alcohol.

Also, enzymes in the male liver are produced in greater quantities than in the female liver, so women process intoxicating drinks much longer. The presence of a menstrual cycle also increases the toxic effect after drinking alcohol. In addition to physical differences, the female psyche is much subtler and more vulnerable, which quickly leads to the development of alcohol addiction.

The effect of alcohol on babies

It is worth noting the fact that the absorption and removal of strong drinks from the body of a nursing mother occurs a little differently than in usual time. So, drunk beer or wine is absorbed much faster, but it is excreted, on the contrary, more slowly. In this case, 10% of all alcohol passes directly into mother's milk. The removal of alcohol from milk occurs at the same time as its removal from a woman’s blood, and the greater the mother’s weight, the faster the time it takes to cleanse the body of alcohol.

For example, if a nursing woman weighing 60 kg drinks 0.5 liters of beer, it will be released from breast milk in about 2.5 hours. Strong drinks (vodka, cognac, whiskey, etc.) are removed from female body 12-13 hours after their use.

The baby can receive the maximum dose of alcohol in 40-60 minutes, if the mother drank beer or wine, literally within 10 minutes ethanol will enter the milk after a glass of sparkling drink.

Alcoholic drinks have the most negative impact on the development of the central nervous system and the development of mental and physical abilities. Alcohol-containing drinks affect each child differently: some experience drowsiness, lethargy and weakness, while others experience extreme agitation and nervousness.

In addition to the effect on the nervous system of the baby, alcohol has an extremely negative effect on the cardiovascular system. Ethanol contained in intoxicating drinks leads to an unnatural rhythm of the child’s heart. After some time, the baby may experience breathing problems.

Alcohol-containing drinks also affect the baby’s digestive tract. If a mother often drinks beer or wine, it can provoke an attack of intestinal colic, or reduce the intensity of absorption of various beneficial substances in the child’s intestines.

And when mommy asks herself whether she can drink or not festive table, and how much alcohol to allow yourself, you need to consider several important factors:

• the type of alcohol and the amount the lady drank;
• how often is intoxicating drink consumed;
• how many feedings occur per day;
• the immediate age of the baby.

But, despite all the points listed, the mother must understand that after allowing herself a little weakness, alcohol will still end up in the milk, and soon in the newborn’s body. And naturally, it is important what was drunk at the holiday - dry wine, high-quality beer or vodka. The age of the baby is also determining; the younger the baby is, the more negative influence on his body. Many experts on issues of motherhood and childhood agree that until the baby is at least six months old, it is best for the mother not to drink strong alcohol at all; this prohibition at this time even applies to various alcohol tinctures, such as tincture of valerian or motherwort.

If there is a strict taboo for children under six months of age, then when feeding older babies, restrictions are introduced for the mother on the issue of drinking alcohol. After all, the immature liver of a newborn simply cannot cope with even a small amount of alcohol that reaches him through mother’s milk.

It is important to know that a woman can drink low-alcohol drinks, such as beer, about three hours before feeding. As for vodka, whiskey and other strong alcohol, they should be excluded until the end of the breastfeeding period.

If a woman encounters situations in which she cannot adhere to the above tips, then it is better to express before going to a party. After all, mother’s milk is stored for quite a long time and does not lose its beneficial properties: in the refrigerator - a day, in the freezer - 1 month.

Some mothers wonder: to make milk pure, can they simply express it after drinking alcohol? Unfortunately, the answer is disappointing, as long as alcohols remain in the blood, they will again and again end up in mother's milk.

Is it possible for a nursing mother to drink alcohol: truth and myths

This sensitive issue is surrounded by many different myths and speculations. Here are some of them:

1. Beer leads to increased lactation. There is an opinion that if you drink this drink, the baby asks for the breast more often, therefore, more breast milk is produced. Several American scientists have conducted research on this matter. Some mothers drank alcoholic beer, while others drank non-alcoholic beer. Indeed, women who drink alcoholic beverages began to put their children to the breast more often, but the total amount of milk after such an experiment among these nursing mothers decreased by almost a third. Consequently, beer does not increase the production of mother's milk, but, on the contrary, suppresses it.
2. If the mother drinks a little alcohol, this will improve the baby's sleep. There is an opinion that if you allow yourself wine before night feeding, the baby will sleep until the morning. About 20 years ago, detailed studies were carried out in the United States, during which it turned out that after the mother drinks alcohol, the baby’s sleep actually changes, but some disruption occurs in the baby’s nervous system, and he feels a sensation close to intoxication. He simply falls into a sleepy state. And the sleep of such children is much more restless and shorter than that of those who drink regular milk.
3. A woman can drink a small amount of alcohol after the birth of a child to stabilize the emotional state of the mother. This is simply a terrible misconception, because no matter how little a woman drinks, until the age of six months, alcohol has an extremely negative effect on the newborn.
4. Intoxicating drinks tend to accumulate in breast milk. This is just a myth. After a certain time, ethanol is eliminated from breast milk, as well as from the blood.

Before deciding for yourself the question of whether alcohol can be consumed breastfeeding, you should understand that the liver perceives any alcohol as poison. Small doses of ethanol entering the body along with a moderate amount of high-quality alcohol or medicinal tinctures do not cause harm to health solely because the liver neutralizes dangerous substances that are formed after the breakdown of ethyl alcohol.

But a newborn’s liver is not able to cope with even microscopic portions of alcohol. Ethanol, which enters the stomach of a baby under the age of three months with mother's milk, enters the blood, permeates the child's tissues and is excreted twice as slowly as in an adult. Alcohol intoxication occurs.

Is it possible to drink alcohol during lactation?

It is difficult for a person living in society to behave contrary to traditions. Sometimes it is difficult for nursing mothers to resist drinking alcohol during the holidays, and sometimes there is simply an urgent desire to drink a sip of beer or wine.

Especially for such cases, specialists from the international organization La Leche League, which promotes breastfeeding, have developed a table of the relationship between a woman’s weight, the amount of alcohol consumed and the time required to remove alcohol from breast milk.

Time for alcohol removal from mother's blood and milk (hours: minutes)

Amount of pure alcohol (grams) Body weight mothers, kg

15

30

45

60

75

90

105

120

135

150

165

180

40.8

2:50

5:40

8:30

11:20

14:10

17:00

19:51

22:41

43.1

2:46

5:32

8:19

11:05

13:52

16:38

19:25

22:11

45.4

2:42

5:25

8:08

10:51

13:34

16:17

19:00

21:43

47.6

2:39

5:19

7:58

10:38

13:18

15:57

18:37

21:16

23:56

49.9

2:36

5:12

7:49

10:25

13:01

15:38

18:14

20:50

23:27

52.2

2:33

5:06

7:39

10:12

12:46

15:19

17:52

20:25

22:59

54.4

2:30

5:00

7:30

10:00

12:31

15:01

17:31

20:01

22:32

56.7

2:27

4:54

7:22

9:49

12:16

14:44

17:11

19:38

22:06

59.0

2:24

4:49

7:13

9:38

12:03

14:27

16:52

19:16

21:41

61.2

2:21

4:43

7:05

9:27

11.49

14:11

16:33

18:55

21:17

23.39

63.5

2:19

4:38

6:58

9:17

11:37

13:56

16:15

18:35

20:54

23:14

65.8

2:16

4:33

6:50

9:07

11:24

13:41

15:58

18:15

20:32

22:49

68.0

2:14

4:29

6:43

8:58

11:12

13:27

15:41

17:56

20:10

22:25

70.3

2:12

4:24

6:36

8:48

11:01

13:13

15:25

17:37

19:49

22:02

72.6

2:10

4:20

6:30

8:40

10:50

13:00

15:10

17:20

19:30

21:40

23:50

74.8

2:07

4:15

6:23

8:31

10:39

12:47

14:54

17:02

19:10

21:18

23.50

77.1

2:05

4:11

6:17

8:23

10:28

12:34

14:40

16:46

18:51

20:57

23:03

79.3

2:03

4:07

6:11

8:14

10:18

12:22

14:26

16:29

18:33

20:37

22:40

81.6

2:01

4:03

6:05

8:07

10:08

12:10

14:12

16:14

18:15

20:17

22:19

83.9

1:59

3:59

5:59

7:59

9:59

11:59

13:59

15:59

17:58

19:58

21:58

23:58

86.2

1:58

3:56

5:54

7:52

9:50

11:48

13:46

15:44

17:42

19:40

21:38

23:36

88.5

1:56

3:52

5:48

7:44

9:41

11:37

13:33

15:29

17:26

19:22

21:18

23:14

90.7

1:54

3:49

5:43

7:38

9:32

11:27

13:21

15:16

17:10

19:05

20:59

22:54

93.0

1:52

3:45

5:38

7:31

9:24

11:17

13:09

15:02

16:55

18:48

20:41

22:34

95.3

1:51

3:42

5:33

7:24

9:16

11:07

12:58

14:49

16:41

18:32

20:23

22:14

The data given in the table are calculated for pure ethanol.

15 ml of ethyl alcohol is equivalent to:

• 35 ml of vodka, cognac, tequila or other alcoholic drink with a strength of 40 degrees;
• 100–130 ml of natural dry wine or 90–100 ml of Cahors;
• 300 ml beer with 5% strength.

It is recommended that a breastfeeding mother who is about to drink alcohol:

• pre-feed the baby or express milk intended for the next feeding and put it in the refrigerator (where it will not lose its properties for at least a day);
• the amount of alcohol consumed should be equivalent to no more than 15 ml, in extreme cases - 30 ml of ethanol. This means that you should drink a glass of beer or wine in small sips and try to stretch it out throughout the evening;
• Using the table, determine the time required to remove ethanol from the body, and add another one to two hours to it for insurance. During this time, you can feed the baby either milk expressed in advance or formula;
• Alcohol does not accumulate in breast milk, so milk should be expressed and discarded only if the woman experiences discomfort. Upon expiration of the period,
• indicated in the table, the milk will be cleared and will again be safe for the baby.

The influence of various alcoholic beverages on the health of a nursing mother and child

There is an opinion that nursing mothers should not drink vodka, but wine and beer are even beneficial. Let's try to figure out if this is so.

In addition to the fact that alcohol disrupts metabolic processes in the body, a dose of 30 ml of ethanol suppresses the ability of breast tissue to respond to the hormone oxytocin (oxytocin reflex). As a result, the outflow of milk becomes significantly more difficult. Feeding after alcohol becomes much more difficult: the baby does not have enough strength to suck out milk, and he receives 20–23% less food than under normal conditions.

We must not forget that beer and wine are the same fermentation products as hard cheeses or pickled vegetables. Eating these products can cause rashes and other allergic reactions in your baby.

Wine while breastfeeding

There is a myth that the baby will sleep better if the mother drinks a glass of wine before breastfeeding. In fact, a child who receives alcohol through breast milk will become intoxicated, and the symptoms will be the same as in an adult.

At first, the baby will experience a surge of strength and euphoria, then he will really quickly fall asleep, but not in a deep, healthy sleep, but in a restless one. The baby will often wake up, be nervous, and cry.

Beer while breastfeeding

Another misconception: beer supposedly makes you more milk. However, it has been proven that beer, like other types of alcohol, can only suppress the oxytocin reflex. Therefore, it is allowed to drink it with the same precautions as wine: occasionally and long before feeding.

But even if these conditions are met, it is better to drink some live beer than pasteurized one. Bottled and canned beer contains a whole “bouquet” of dyes and preservatives, which are removed from the blood and milk much more slowly than ethanol.

Giving a child a “cocktail” of carcinogens is not a good idea. For the same reasons, nursing mothers are prohibited from taking energy drinks.

Frequency of drinking alcohol during lactation

American pediatrician Jack Newman, a prominent figure in the La Leche League, promotes the idea that a woman during lactation should not strictly limit her intake of alcohol. Allegedly, a small amount of alcohol drunk by the mother (one or two glasses of wine or beer several times a week) will not harm the baby, since the ethanol content in breast milk is calculated in hundredths of a percent.

Even a non-specialist can see the error in the logical constructions of the American professor. The baby’s body weight is too small, and the body is not yet adapted to combat the effects of ethanol breakdown products. In addition, the scientist controlled only physical condition babies whose mothers drank alcohol a little while breastfeeding. But the scientist did not trace the fate of the participants in the experiment after its completion.

It has been proven that if a child periodically receives ethanol with mother’s milk, then:

• the baby experiences sudden mood swings: from euphoria to complete apathy;
• there is a delay in the development of psychomotor skills;
• in especially severe cases, alcohol intoxication in infants is accompanied by vomiting and stomach colic, and metabolic disorders are possible;
• the heartbeat increases, which provokes weakness and suffocation;
• As they grow older, such people often develop an irresistible craving for alcohol.

Therefore, nursing mothers can drink alcohol only in extreme cases, a maximum of 2-3 times during the entire lactation period. It is allowed to put the baby on the breast only after the breakdown products of ethanol have been completely removed from the blood and milk. It is not advisable to drink alcohol before the child is 3 months old. And the most sensible thing for a nursing mother is not to risk the health of her baby and completely give up alcohol.

It's my 30th birthday on Saturday. And I want to celebrate this sad date (although my mother-in-law said that turning 40 is when you are 31...) The whole problem is that I am breastfeeding and I don’t want to harm my son. Therefore, I started looking for information on the Internet - I was interested in how long it would take for alcohol to leave the body... And I came across an interesting article.

Please don’t write to me about immorality, I’m good.

And here is the article:

How can drinking alcohol by a nursing mother affect the health of the child? What are safe limits for drinking while breastfeeding?

Numerous studies have proven with great accuracy that drinking alcohol during pregnancy can lead to serious consequences and jeopardize the health of the unborn child. The risk associated with drinking alcohol during breastfeeding has been proven to a lesser extent and is therefore present moment There is no one specific point of view on this problem. As always in such situations, the lack of consensus among specialists created favorable conditions for the emergence of a whole series of myths, strict restrictions and dangerous liberties. In this article we will try to provide a critical description of the problem of drinking alcohol during breastfeeding and outline “safe boundaries” for alcohol consumption by nursing mothers.

What you need to know about drinking alcohol while breastfeeding?

Alcohol passes freely into mother's milk. The concentration of alcohol in breast milk reaches its maximum level approximately 30-60 minutes after drinking it on an empty stomach, or 60-90 minutes if drinking alcohol with food.
Alcohol detoxification occurs in the liver. The speed of alcohol neutralization depends mainly on the weight of the person and the strength of the drink. For example, if a woman weighs 54 kg, then her body will need approximately 2-3 hours to completely remove the alcohol contained in 1 serving of wine (150 ml) or beer (330 ml) from the body. If a woman drinks stronger drinks, her body will take longer to eliminate the same amount of alcohol. For example, if a woman weighs 54 kg and drank 1 serving of vodka or cognac (45 ml), her body will need up to 13 hours to completely remove all alcohol from the body. In this regard, nursing mothers are advised to avoid the consumption of strong alcoholic beverages or dilute them.

How can alcohol affect a child?

The effect of alcohol on a breastfed baby is directly dependent on the amount of alcohol consumed. Drinking alcoholic beverages during breastfeeding is considered safe for the baby if the nursing mother drinks alcohol occasionally and limits the amount of alcohol consumed to 1 serving per day or less (1 serving is considered approximately 45 ml of cognac, 150 ml of wine or 330 ml of beer) . In case of excessive alcohol consumption, the following changes in the child's behavior are possible.

When drinking alcohol once:
-Lethargy, drowsiness
-Deep sleep
-Weakness

For chronic alcohol abuse:
-Insufficient weight gain
- Delayed psychomotor development
-Also, it is possible to reduce the amount of milk and slow down the sucking reflex in the child

Most medical organizations involved in the problem of breastfeeding do not insist on the need to completely stop drinking alcohol while breastfeeding for two reasons:
Firstly, if the above conditions are met, the amount of alcohol that gets into the milk is very low and cannot harm the child.
Secondly, a complete ban on drinking alcohol during breastfeeding most often leads to stopping feeding too early (rather than giving up alcohol), which, of course, is not recommended. A complete ban on alcohol is yet another of the many unnecessary restrictions imposed on breastfeeding mothers.
Some studies have shown that beer can increase prolactin levels in a mother's blood and increase the amount of milk produced by the mammary glands. However, it should be noted that this effect can be caused by the beer itself, and not the ethanol (alcohol) contained in it, so you should not abuse beer to increase lactation. If desired, you can drink non-alcoholic beer.

What should you pay attention to?
Child age:
The liver of a newborn baby is underdeveloped, so at this age the child is more susceptible to the negative effects of alcohol
Up to about 3 months, a child’s body is able to neutralize alcohol two times slower than an adult’s body. Children older than 3 months usually digest alcohol well.
Your weight:
The rate at which alcohol is processed and eliminated from the body depends on a person’s weight.
A person who weighs more is able to metabolize alcohol faster than a person who weighs less.
Alcohol quantity:
The effect of alcohol on a child’s condition directly depends on the amount of alcohol consumed
The more alcohol consumed, the longer it will take to eliminate it from the mother’s body.
Drink strength:
The stronger the drink (the higher the concentration of alcohol it contains), the longer it will take to remove it from the body.
Drinking alcohol with food:
Drinking alcohol with food reduces its absorption in the intestines.

Should I express milk after drinking alcohol?

Alcohol passes freely from the milk back into the mother's bloodstream, so expressing milk after drinking alcohol does not make sense. The concentration of alcohol in milk decreases as its concentration in the blood decreases. Since alcohol is not “fixed” in milk, expressing milk is useless. In addition, pumping, drinking large quantity water, rest or coffee do not help remove alcohol from the body more quickly.

What if I get drunk?

In such situations, the following rule should be followed:
You should not breastfeed until you are completely sober. If you do not feel drunk, then the alcohol concentration in your milk does not pose a danger to the baby.

It should be noted that the mother’s state of intoxication is dangerous for the child not only from the point of view of alcohol getting into the milk. A drunk mother (like any other drunk person looking after a child) can have inappropriate behavior, cannot give the child appropriate attention, may accidentally injure the child (due to poor coordination of movements), may fall and crush him or fall asleep, leaving the child unattended. Be careful and never drink alcohol unless a sober person can look after your child at the time.

Assessing the risk of drinking alcohol while breastfeeding

Many breastfeeding mothers sometimes find themselves in a situation where they want to drink a little, but they are afraid of harming the baby. If you are concerned about the possible risks of your baby passing alcohol through your milk, you may want to consider the following options:

1) You can express and prepare the required amount of milk for your baby in advance to avoid breastfeeding immediately after drinking alcohol.
2) You can plan the moment of drinking alcohol in such a way that you have the opportunity not to feed for 2-3 hours (in the case of drinking 1 serving of wine or beer) - for example, drink at night, after the evening feeding of the child.
3) If your breasts are full, but you are not going to feed yet, then express some milk until you feel relieved to prevent the appearance of lactostasis and mastitis.

Article taken from the website www.polismed.ru

It is a well-known fact that everything eaten and drunk by a nursing mother passes through breast milk to the baby. It is no less known that alcohol is harmful to health, but some women today are confident that alcohol during breastfeeding in moderation will not cause any harm. Moreover, some “experienced” mothers claim that it is simply necessary to drink a glass of beer in order to establish successful lactation.

Before drinking this or that drink or dish, a nursing mother should first of all ask the question: will this harm my baby? Even if you doubt whether the answer will be negative, you should refrain from taking this drink or dish.

As for alcohol during breastfeeding, the answer is clearly negative. Alcohol is a poison that causes significant harm to the health of a woman and her baby.

Often a nursing woman, who finds herself visiting, feels insecure in a cheerful drinking company, remaining on the sidelines. If her willingness to support the company has prevailed over common sense, then she should at least think about minimizing the harm that alcohol can cause to her child through breast milk.

What harm does alcohol cause to a child?

So that a nursing mother has an idea of ​​the harm caused by alcohol while breastfeeding, let’s consider how it affects the baby’s organs and systems.

1. Nervous system. A baby, having tasted the milk of a mother who has drunk an alcoholic drink, usually falls asleep without being satisfied. However, his sleep is short-lived, he wakes up and behaves differently than usual. If the mother regularly drinks alcohol, the baby will experience mental retardation.
2. Cardiovascular system. General weakness, decrease blood pressure, pulse increases.
3. Digestive system. Alcohol irritates the mucous membranes of the digestive system, intestinal absorption functions are disrupted, nutrients are poorly absorbed, and the child suffers from frequent colic and bloating. Frequent drinking of alcohol by the mother leads to the fact that the child does not gain weight and is far behind his peers physically.
4. The mother's regular intake of alcohol causes the baby to become addicted to alcohol, which can cause him to become dependent.

Rules for drinking alcohol while breastfeeding

If a nursing mother considers it possible to take alcohol while breastfeeding, then she at least needs to adhere to the basic rules in order to reduce the harm of its exposure to the baby:

• Abstain from alcohol at least until the child is three months old. The newborn’s body is not able to digest the aggressive components that enter it with mother’s milk, which means they will have a destructive effect on all the child’s organs.
• It’s not so much the alcohol that will affect the baby’s body, but its volume and quality. If you compare a glass of dry wine and a glass of vodka, the damage done to the body will, of course, differ. The more alcohol taken, the longer it will take to remove it from the body, and, consequently, its more will get into the milk.
• If a nursing mother is going to drink, she needs to express in advance in order to prepare milk for the next two feedings. Or, after feeding your child before drinking alcohol, wait until the next feeding for three to four hours. Vodka and cognac will require a longer period of time to disappear from the body.
• A nursing woman should be sure of the quality of the alcohol she drinks. Don't forget about the unsafe additives in it. Low-quality raw materials are not sufficiently purified and have harmful components, and liqueurs and low-alcohol drinks contain dyes and preservatives, which are very harmful to the body not only of children, but also of adults.

Alcohol during breastfeeding negatively affects all organs and systems of the baby and mother, leads to developmental delays and the occurrence of many other problems, so it should not be consumed by nursing mothers.