There is a lot of conflicting information out there about what is safe when it comes to breastfeeding and alcohol. Here’s what you need to know about when it makes sense to pump and dump, plus an experiment I did with testing breast milk for alcohol to see what effect a few glasses of wine had on my breast milk.
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Is it safe to drink alcohol while breastfeeding?
When you drink alcohol, some amount of it goes into your breast milk. The amount depends on how much you drink, how much food you’ve recently eaten, your weight, your tolerance – all kinds of things.
What does that mean for breastfeeding moms? Below are some recommendations from different sources.
From Baby Center:
While no one knows the true effect that alcohol has on breastfed infants, it’s probably wise to abstain – at least in the very beginning. Some experts recommend breastfeeding moms avoid drinking alcohol until their baby is 3 months old.
From the American Academy of Pediatrics:
Ingestion of alcoholic beverages should be minimized and limited to an occasional intake but no more than 0.5 g alcohol per kg body weight, which for a 60 kg mother is approximately 2 oz liquor, 8 oz wine, or 2 beers. Nursing should take place 2 hours or longer after the alcohol intake to minimize its concentration in the ingested milk.
From Dr. Thomas Hale:
[M]others who ingest alcohol in moderate amounts can generally return to breastfeeding as soon as they feel neurologically normal.
From the CDC:
Drinking alcoholic beverages is not an indication to stop breastfeeding; however, consuming more than one drink per day is not recommended.
Here is more information on alcohol and breastfeeding.
So should you pump and dump if you drink alcohol? What are the “pump and dump” breastfeeding rules?
The way alcohol works with regard to your breast milk is similar to alcohol in your bloodstream. As alcohol is broken down and metabolized by your liver, it leaves your system.
Here is an example.
Say you breastfeed (nursing or pumping) at 7pm, and then have a drink at 8pm.
The alcohol will enter your bloodstream and your breast milk. Once your liver has metabolized the alcohol, it will leave your milk just like it leaves your blood.
You don’t have to pump the milk to remove the alcohol in it, any more than you need to remove your blood to get the alcohol out.
Say you then pump at 10pm. There will be some alcohol in your milk, and you may want to dump it or not (depending on how you feel and your comfort level with alcohol in breastmilk).
But what if you waited a few hours, and didn’t pump again until midnight? Then, the alcohol will be (most likely) out of your system and out of your milk, so there would be no need to dump it.
Therefore, you only need to pump and dump if you decide to pump for comfort or to maintain your milk supply. Otherwise, you can just wait until the alcohol leaves your system before lactating again.
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What should you do with milk with alcohol in it?
If you decided not to feed your baby milk because of alcohol consumption, that doesn’t mean you need to dump it down the drain.
The easiest thing to do is to save the milk and use it for a milk bath, which can be soothing for your baby’s skin.
Basically, you just wash your baby as you normally would, and then you fill the tub back up again and add enough milk so that the water becomes cloudy. Soak your baby in it for 5-10 minutes.
You can also use the milk to make breast milk jewelry or lotion or a number of other uses that don’t involve feeding the milk to your baby.
Testing breast milk for alcohol experiment
One night, after I put my daughter to bed, I decided to test out Milkscreen strips. I pumped just enough milk to test in order to get a baseline view of what the strip looked like with no alcohol in the breast milk.
As I expected, the color didn’t change and aligned with the “you’re sober!” color on the chart.
I then started drinking the pictured glass of wine. Because I had been pregnant and/or breastfeeding for four years, had pretty close to zero tolerance.
About half an hour later, I’d finished about half of the glass pictured above and I felt a pretty strong buzz. However, the test was still clear:
Over the next hour and a half, I finished that glass, drank half of another one, and tested every half an hour.
All of the tests were negative. However, I was feeling the effects of the alcohol enough that I would not have driven or fed my baby at this point.
At this point, I was starting to become concerned that the Milkscreen tests were expired, or for whatever reason, just not working.
At 10:00pm, though, I finished my second glass of wine, and FINALLY saw a change in the test. I took another one at 10:30pm, which you can see is even darker.
When I took the last test at 10:30pm, I felt absolutely fine. However, that’s not what the test showed.
(I wanted to stay up and see how long it took for the milk come back out of my system, but my baby likes to be awake to see the sunrise and I needed to go to bed.)
So what to take away from that? It could be that my perception was off, it could have been that the tests weren’t working correctly, or it could mean that it’s wise to wait a bit longer after feeling “fine” before breastfeeding.
What do you think? Have you used Milkscreen breast milk alcohol test strips? Do you find it helpful?
References
- Bonyata, Kelly, IBCLC. “Breastfeeding and alcohol.” https://kellymom.com/bf/can-i-breastfeed/lifestyle/alcohol/
- BabyCenter Medical Advisory Board. “Alcohol and Breastfeeding.” https://www.babycenter.com/0_alcohol-and-breastfeeding_3547.bc
- CDC. “Is it safe for mothers to breastfeed their infant if they have consumed alcohol?” https://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/breastfeeding-special-circumstances/vaccinations-medications-drugs/alcohol.html
Comments & Chitchat
Lauren says
Where did you get the test strips that have the indication that if its only s little color it’s safe to use? I wish there would just be a way to know if you have 1-2 glasses or beers to wait an hour or so before pumping. I hate wasting milk- I drank maybe 3 beers in 4 hours .. I went to pump my milk after not drinking for an hour and it had alcohol in it.. I was completely sober actually didn’t even feel buzzed yet had to chuck the milk after testing it. If I’m sober do I even bother testing it and just keep the milk? It’s not even worth drinking at all to me.
Amanda Glenn says
Personally, I would just keep it if you feel sober!
These are from Upspring but they are old. I wrote this a few years ago. Hope that helps!
Markie Lloyd says
I use milk strips. I have used them so often that I can basically count how many hours per drink. In my experience right when you stop drinking you start counting 1 hour per light drink like wine or light beer and two hours per drink of heavy drinks like IPA beer or liquor. Also I just saturate the strip straight from my breast. No pumping necessary just heavily saturate it for 5 to ten seconds with expressed milk. So if you have 3 beers over 4 hours. I would wait three hours or a little shy of three after you take your last sip. If I’m not sure my milk is clean I test it right before a feeding. Then when I do have to pump milk with alcohol in it , for comfort or keeping up supply, I use it in his bath the next day. He has never had diaper rash and his little scrapes heal faster.
Allie says
I had one night where I had drank 4-5 craft beers (so higher alcohol content, about 8-9%) over a 5 hour period. I had gone to bed, and I then pumped 6 hours later after my last drink and thought for sure I would have alcohol in my milk and would have to dump it. So I decided to get some strips to test it and I was sure glad I did. My milk was ok for my baby to drink. And I had enough for more than two feeding. I even tested it twice just to make sure.
Erika says
Hello! I was curious about this issue after this past Valentine’s day, when I THOUGHT I had waited long enough to pump after having wine before and with dinner (approx three 5oz servings over four hours) I skipped the evening before bed pump (I know…) and pumped six hours after that last sip. I was surprised that my test strips showed alcohol in the breast milk. Then I found this chart https://www.motherisk.org/women/updatesDetail.jsp?content_id=347 and from the weight and drink calculation I should have waited nearly seven and a half hours! I had no idea, but I’ll be more vigilant in the future and probably eliminate the issue by sticking to one drink
Rachael says
im not at all surprised by this-i would think there would be a delay-if you think about it, you drink alcohol, your body absorbs it through the mucous membranes in your mouth and osophagus, then stomach, your body processes it through the liver and THEN ends up in your breast milk (after traveling around in your blood) after some time-all of that absorption and processing your body does take a decent period of time! I would be interested to hear what the test strips registered the NEXT morning-I think people would be surprised-especially if you haven’t breast fed during the night-I think you would find that alcohol wouldn’t just disappear/dissipate/evaporate from the breast milk over time (overnight), Potentially accumulating in the breast milk during the night, and quite possibly giving your baby a fair a bit of alcohol for their first morning feed-quite scary to think about!!!
Erika says
I’m curious, did you test your milk the next morning to see if there was any alcohol left in the milk after several hours?
Amanda Glenn says
Hi Erika! I didn’t – that would have been a good idea though!
Sarah says
It makes sense to me that the level in your milk went up as time went on, even if you weren’t feeling the effects anymore. It takes time for the alcohol to metabolize, and to transfer to your milk. So by the time you were buzzed, it was just starting to make its way and after you stopped, the previous wine you had imbibed was now being transferred to your milk.
The Extreme Pumper says
Thanks Sarah! It does make sense, I just didn’t think it would take that long. 🙂
Stephanie B says
Interesting experiment! For the life of me, I cannot find this excellent article online that mathematically figured out exactly how much alcohol transfers into breastmilk. It made perfect sense and the point it was making was that in moderation, very little alcohol transfers into breastmilk…making it unnecessary to pump and dump. I personally have never pumped and dumped…but I do limit myself to one beer or glass of wine. Thanks for your article!
The Extreme Pumper says
I thought I commented on your comment, but now it seems to be gone? 🙂 In any case, that article sounds awesome! If you happen to find it definitely let me know. 🙂 You’re smart to limit yourself, there is nothing worse than being hungover with a baby to take care of!
Stephanie B says
Yes, you had commented on my comment! 🙂 But thanks for commenting again! Enjoyed your brownie blog!
The Extreme Pumper says
Hahaha, thanks!
Heather says
Pumping and dumping is not necessary at any point, and doesn’t help clear alcohol, only time does that.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/infant-and-toddler-health/expert-answers/breast-feeding-and-alcohol/faq-20057985
Stephanie B says
Thanks for the article! The article says that pumping and dumping does not speed the elimination of alcohol from the body, which is obvious to me. That concept never occurred to be. However, I was under the impression that women pumped and dumped at the next feeding/pumping session after alcohol consumption, to avoid feeding baby the milk with high alcohol content. I am comforted that baby is exposed to only a fraction of alcohol that mother consumes, but the research on motor development and sleep patterns is certainly alarming for me! Thanks again for the information!
The Extreme Pumper says
Yes – this is what I have done. I never liked to mess with my pumping schedule, so if I had had too much to drink to feed my baby, I would still go ahead and pump and then just dump it. (Versus skipping the session altogether.) I would always get too nervous about supply and/or clogged ducts.
Stephanie B says
Thanks! That makes sense! Of course my paranoid self is now worried about impairing my baby’s motor development! I think this is just one of those topics that really has varied research, opinions, etc.
Naomi says
So, a couple concerns I have with this post. First, judging from the size of that glass, you did not drink 2 servings of wine. A serving of wine is considered 5 ounces. I’m guessing that wine glass holds closer to 8-12 ounces easily. It takes about an hour to process the first serving of alcohol. It takes an additional hour to process each additional serving of alcohol, and each serving actually slows alcohol metabolism by about half. So, if you drank, let’s say, 18 ounces of wine, that would be about 3 servings, maybe closer to 4 or 5 depending on the actual number of ounces your wine glass holds… Which means that you should NOT have been driving 2 hours later, feeling “fine” or not. Your BAC would be at peak about 3-4 hours (if it was 3 servings) after you started drinking. This is why public health advocates strongly advise against having a “glass of wine” at dinner and then driving just a couple hours later. You may feel fine, but the effects of alcohol happen first on judgement and reflexes, and only later on motor coordination and speech. I’m glad you did this experiment, though, because it’s a perfect example of how people get into trouble. You *think* you only had 2 drinks, and act accordingly, when in fact you’ve had quite a bit more than 2 drinks. I wish schools and public health officials had a better way of making sure people actually know how this stuff works, because then you would not have been surprised.
The Extreme Pumper says
Thanks for your comment! I was interested in what you said, so I checked the wine glass. It holds six ounces of wine. (I totally understand how it might have looked bigger than that in the photo because of the angle I took it at. I didn’t want to be in the photo so I crouched down while taking it, pointing the phone upwards.) If five ounces is a serving, then I drank 2.5 servings over a 3 hour period.
I definitely understand your point about drinking and driving. It’s not something to mess with at all. Thanks for your comment.
Emily says
Those test strips are known for being wildly inaccurate and alarmist. Yes, alcohol may show on the strip, but that doesn’t mean the amount transferring to the baby is bad! It’s less than a drop of alcohol, in reality. So please don’t get hung up on these strips. Kellymom is NOT wrong, if you can drive you’re fine to breastfeed.
The Extreme Pumper says
That makes sense about the amount transferring to the baby. I think Milkscreen shows the alcohol at the .02 level, which is well below the legal limit for driving. Thanks for making that point!
Nathalie Poling says
So glad you did this experiment. Luckily I always followed my grandmothers advice of having a glass of wine just before or during a nursing session because she said it would take a while for the alcohol to get to the milk and you would have time for it to hopefully leave your system before the next feeding. Makes perfect sense. I only drink on extremely rare occasions and after my youngest is in bed but I’m always nervous about what happens if she does wake up unexpectedly. Thanks for the insight!
The Extreme Pumper says
I love your grandmother’s advice! I agree that that is the best time, and it’s nice and relaxing, too. Thanks for reading!