Is it safe to drink alcohol when you breastfeed?

When you drink alcohol, a small amount of alcohol is passed into your breastmilk. The alcohol level in your milk is at its highest level about 30 to 60 minutes after you’ve had a drink. As long as alcohol is in your bloodstream, it’s in your milk. It can be passed to your baby. The alcohol level in your blood and your milk will go down over time. It goes down about 2 hours after you’ve had 1 drink.

It’s healthiest for your baby if you don’t drink alcohol if you are breastfeeding. But having up to 1 standard drink a day is not believed to be harmful to your baby. Wait at least 2 hours per standard drink after having alcohol before you breastfeed.

Standard drink sizes

A standard alcoholic drink is 1 of these:

• 12 ounces of beer

• 5 ounces of wine

• 1.5 ounce of hard liquor (such as gin, rum, vodka, whiskey)

If you decide to have a drink

If you choose to have alcohol when nursing, have no more than 1 standard drink a day. Time your drink around your breastfeeding schedule. This is so you pass less alcohol along to your baby. Follow these guidelines for your baby’s health:

• Breastfeed or pump first. It’s best to have a drink right after you breastfeed or pump your milk, not before nursing or pumping.

• Wait 2 hours or more before nursing. The more alcohol you have, the longer it takes to clear out of your body. So wait at least 2 hours (per drink) before nursing your baby or pumping milk. If you have 2 drinks, then wait at least 4 hours after your last drink to breastfeed or pump. This gives your body time to get rid of the alcohol before you breastfeed again.

• Don’t pump and dump. It’s not true that pumping and then dumping your milk right after drinking will reduce the amount of alcohol in your milk quicker. Alcohol will stay in your milk for as long as it’s in your bloodstream. This is about 2 hours per drink. But it's important to drain your breasts if you wait longer before the next feeding. This is to prevent breast engorgement.

• Use expressed milk. If you’re planning to have a drink, have some bottles of expressed breastmilk ready to use.

The dangers of drinking too much

Drinking larger amounts of alcohol can cause breastfeeding problems. It can harm your baby. Having too much alcohol in your system can cause issues with your milk letdown. This is called milk ejection reflex. Over time, drinking too much alcohol can reduce your milk supply. This may make you stop breastfeeding sooner than you would have.

For your baby, larger amounts of alcohol in your breastmilk can cause:

• Drowsiness

• Weakness

• Deep sleep

• Abnormal weight gain

• Problems with early development

And there are other dangers as well. Drinking too much alcohol can impair your judgment. This makes it unsafe for you to care for your baby.