Drinking while breastfeeding

Pump and dump

I had an event a few weeks ago and pumped milk for a few days leading up to the night so she had milk while I was gone and for the following day. I pumped as much as I could while out and dumped it as I’d seen some conflicting info online and it made it easier for me not needing to sterilise bottles and the pump parts. I counted how many drinks I had and then waited the 2-3 hours for each one (there’s a page somewhere on the nhs that states what is classes as one drink depending on the type of alcohol) and then waited a little longer as I was worried. I carried on pumping and dumping through that time to keep up my supply and relieve the pain. I might have been overly cautious but I felt better playing it safe. The only advice I would give is to make sure you have backup milk maybe for an extra day as even though I thought I’d pumped for the amount she feeds, I found the 2nd day I seemed a bit short on milk but it did pick up again on the third and go back to normal by the 4th X

You don't need to pump and dump when having a couple of drinks. There is still some advice about waiting 2 hours after a drink but the amount of alcohol in your blood then passing on to baby via milk is so little there it's going to have minimal impact. It's more of an issue if you're regularly drinking alcohol. My motto is "If you can hold the baby you can feed the baby" so if you're properly going out and getting drunk you'd probably not want to feed that to your baby. I went to a wedding on the weekend and fed my baby after 1 or 2 drinks, but when I'd had quite a few in a shorter amount of time I used expressed milk in a bottle instead and pumped and dumped. You're going to have to pump regardless to keep up your supply.

Midwife told me that as long as you’re not too inebriated to look after a baby, your milk will be fine- no more alcoholic than orange juice we’re her exact words!

If you're worried about feeding after you've drank you can always keep it for milk baths?

I personally pumped and dumped just to keep my supply going then fed from the boob the night after (so slept after drinking then waited a day then fed that night). I felt it was sufficient enough. That was with my 5 week old. Enjoy your night off just make sure to remember to pump so you don’t lose supply x

As long as you can drive (under legal limit), you can breast feed.

Pump and dump is an outdated thought now a days. You can keep the milk as long as it’s refrigerated. You can also feed the baby when you get home! Have a good time!

If you are going to be drinking then pump and dump. For each drink you have to wait at least two hours before feeding so if you have two then four hours and so on. if you are going to drink a lot then wait 24h before feeding.