Is It Safe to Breastfeed and Drink Alcohol?

While I was pregnant, I did not miss alcohol one bit. Soon after I had the baby, I still had no taste for it. Now that weeks and months have past, I wanted to treat myself to a cocktail but I was unsure how to go about this while breastfeeding. The baby comes before my own desires so I had to consult with my lactation consulting nurse first. She informed me that I could enjoy a glass or two or wine while breastfeeding without affecting or harming the baby. I was pleased to hear this. What I needed to do was wait at least an hour after I had my last sip of wine, then I could feed the baby. Ok cook, I began to think of a game plan on how this would be possible, so I only drink when I know I will not be breastfeeding and that is....

1. When we're out in public away from home for at least an hour
2. While the baby is sleeping for the night
3. When I am feeding him via a bottle because he has to have a cereal in his diet to avoid from overeating (I will touch on this in a future post)

So if we go out to dinner, I make sure I order my glass of wine early on so by the time we drive back to our home I would have passed my hour time limit. To double check this rule, I purchased some alcohol test strips for at home use. I grabbed mines from Babies R' Us and they are totally worth it. I cut the strips in half to extend my supply because they are kinda pricey. I test my breastmilk before the hour was up and it tested positive. I waited an hour and tested again and it tested negative.

Alcohol Home Test in Breast Milk

Thanks for stopping by, LaTasha