Is it okay for a nursing mom to drink alcohol?

Almost everything that a nursing mother drinks or eats ends up in breast milk, and then in the baby's body. Therefore, it is very important for a woman to carefully monitor her diet and fill it with only healthy food and drinks. Perhaps there is no mother who would not guess about the harm of alcoholic drinks - both during pregnancy and breastfeeding. However, many ask the question: should alcohol be completely excluded, or can its consumption only be limited? Are alcohol and breastfeeding compatible in small doses?

Scientists have already conducted quite a lot of research, thanks to which they have proven that alcohol and breastfeeding are a very dangerous combination, as it endangers the fragile health of the baby. The danger of alcohol during breastfeeding is determined by the age of the baby, the weight of the nursing mother, the amount of alcohol consumed and its strength, as well as whether the woman ate food with an alcoholic drink.

• A child’s liver is very vulnerable: up to 3 months of age, the liver neutralizes alcohol 50% slower than in an adult, and up to 6 months of age – 25% slower.
• The higher the body weight of a nursing mother, the faster alcohol is neutralized in her body.
• The more alcohol a mother drinks while breastfeeding, the longer it will take to leave the bloodstream. Accordingly, the stronger the alcoholic drink consumed, the longer it will take to leave the body.
• If a woman ate food while drinking alcohol, the absorption of alcohol in the intestines will be somewhat reduced.

Alcohol freely enters the mother's milk during breastfeeding. The maximum concentration of alcohol in the blood is observed half an hour or an hour after drinking alcohol on an empty stomach, or an hour or an hour and a half after drinking alcohol while eating.

Alcohol is neutralized after entering the liver. How quickly this happens depends on the above factors. The body weight of the nursing mother is of great importance: for example, if she weighs 54 kg, then the alcohol contained in 150 ml of wine or 330 ml of beer will leave the bloodstream after an average of 2.5 hours. When drinking whiskey or cognac, the period of elimination and neutralization will be significantly delayed - 45 ml of vodka, for example, can "leave" up to 13 hours.

What happens to the baby if the mother drinks alcohol while breastfeeding?

With a single dose of alcohol (we are talking about 45 ml of vodka, or 330 ml of beer, or 150 ml of wine), the child shows symptoms such as apathy, weakness, and sleep disturbances.

If the mother regularly drinks alcohol and breastfeeds, children begin to have problems gaining weight and often lag behind in psychomotor development.

Many nursing mothers are sure that if you express milk after drinking alcohol, you can safely breastfeed your baby. The fact is that alcohols easily penetrate both from blood into milk and back, so the alcohol content in milk is equivalent to its content in the bloodstream.

Contrary to popular belief, you cannot speed up the removal of alcohol from your bloodstream by drinking large amounts of water, tea or coffee.

The average period of elimination of 130 ml of alcohol from the mother's body, depending on her body weight:

	Weight 50 kg	Weight 60 kg	Weight 70 kg
Alcoholic beer	About 45 minutes	About 40 minutes	Less than 40 minutes
Low-alcohol carbonated drink 9%	1 hour and 45 minutes	1 hour and 35 minutes	1 hour 30 minutes
Semi-sweet champagne	2 h	1 hour and 55 minutes	1 hour and 50 minutes
Semi-sweet wine	2 hours and 25 minutes	2 hours and 20 minutes	2 hours and 10 minutes
Dessert wine	3 hours and 15 minutes	3 hours and 10 minutes	3 hours and 5 minutes
Liquor	From 5 hours and 25 minutes	From 5 hours and 15 minutes	From 5 hours and 10 minutes
Cognac, vodka	From 7 hours and 5 minutes	From 7 h	From 6 hours and 55 minutes

Can a nursing mother drink beer?

Some mothers think that drinking beer increases milk production - this is not true. At first, it really does seem that the breasts are "filled" and there is more milk. Such sensations are associated with several factors:

• - alcohol retains fluid in the tissues – this leads to swelling of the blood vessels and lymph nodes in the mammary glands;
• - alcohol during feeding inhibits the release of the hormone oxytocin, which leads to the following effect: the breast is full of milk, but the baby sucks out a smaller volume of milk than before - due to the narrowing of the milk ducts.

Therefore, it is better not to combine beer and breastfeeding.

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Can a nursing mother drink non-alcoholic beer?

There are several expert opinions regarding non-alcoholic beer and breastfeeding. On the one hand, the process of making non-alcoholic beer is quite safe, so the drink is very similar to its alcoholic counterpart, but contains virtually no alcohol.

But here too women may face a catch. Firstly, not all non-alcoholic beer sold in stores is of the same quality. Unscrupulous manufacturers may add harmful substances, dyes, phytohormones, etc. to the non-alcoholic drink. Therefore, first of all, it is necessary to make sure of the quality of the product.

Secondly, the taste of malt and hops present in beer may not be liked by the baby - up to the point of refusing to breastfeed. Therefore, whether it is worth drinking non-alcoholic beer while breastfeeding is a controversial issue.

Can a nursing mother drink wine?

There is an opinion that wine has a positive effect on the quality of children's sleep. Many mothers believe that by drinking a little wine before feeding, they can calm the baby and provide him with a deep and long sleep. American experts have tested this assumption and completely refuted it. They proved that drinking wine by a nursing mother leads to disturbances in the child's nervous system: from the first minutes, the baby feels euphoria, reminiscent of a normal state of intoxication. Then the function of neurons is suppressed, and the baby falls asleep: however, such sleep is heavy, with frequent awakenings and even nightmares - it is superficial, since it lacks a phase of calm sleep. The next morning, the child will become irritable and capricious, or labile and inhibited - due to the lack of proper rest.

Therefore, experts advise to refrain from drinking wine while breastfeeding – for the sake of the baby’s health and well-being.

Can a nursing mother drink champagne?

Until the baby is six months old, it is better not to think about alcohol, and, in particular, about champagne - even an insignificant, at first glance, amount of alcohol can cause irreparable harm to the baby. Most experts believe that any alcohol should be excluded during breastfeeding until six months.

But even if the child is already six months old, champagne consumption should be limited: a few sips should be enough. Moreover, it is better to start feeding after drinking champagne no earlier than 2.5-3 hours later.

What if mom couldn’t resist and drank a little alcohol?

First: you cannot offer the breast to the baby if there are even the slightest signs of intoxication.

Second: if a woman plans to drink alcohol while breastfeeding, she needs to express a sufficient amount of “clean” milk in advance – it can be stored in the refrigerator or freezer for some time.

Third: when taking part in a feast, a woman should in no case forget that she is a mother – she bears a huge responsibility not only for her own life and health, but also for the health of a small – still completely defenseless – child.

It is better not to combine alcohol and breastfeeding at all - despite the fact that some experts indicate an "acceptable" dose of alcohol for nursing women. "Acceptable" does not mean "safe". Any parent should realize that the health of a small person is always more valuable than any pleasure.