Breastfeeding and alcohol consumption

Pregnancy and an Occasional Sip

Clearly enough, pregnant women aresupposed to pay attention to their health, being extremely carefulabout their diet, lifestyle and many other different aspects of theirliving. After all, they have a baby to give birth to. Therefore, allthe necessary care and devotion needs to be focused on this day.Nevertheless, many women feel depressed due to the fact that they aredeprived of some of the most cherished parts of living, such ascertain favorite spicy food or some alcoholic drinks, like a glass ofwine after meals. Luckily for them, alcohol can be good for pregnantwomen, taking in consideration the necessary moderation regarding thevery indulgence into it. Namely, a pregnant woman would be just finewith a glass of wine a day, and so would her baby. What is more,after the baby is born, a woman can freely breastfeed it, whilehaving not more than 2 units of alcoholic beverage a day. Naturally,there are certain rules to follow and every new mother should knowthem.

Breastfeeding and Alcohol

As mentioned above, extreme moderationcan allow you to breastfeed and have a sip now and then. However, youshould not breastfeed for about 2 hours after drinking the alcoholicbeverage.

There is a myth that pumping the milkout after drinking and throwing it away instead of feeding the babywith it can eliminate all the alcohol from it. However, this is nottrue. Also, excessive drinking will reduce your milk production,despite the claims that it does quite the opposite. All in all, it isbest not to drink during the first three months of a child's life andthe breastfeeding process. Afterwards, you may drink in moderation,since the baby's digestive system is bound to cope much better withalcohol than before this period.

Some researches have been performed andthe results showed that babies of mothers who drink alcohol now andthen tend to have sleeping problems and to develop slower, takingmore time to gain weight. Also, drinking a single drink everydaywhile breastfeeding, can decrease your baby's motor functions.Therefore, you are to be extremely careful, even to stop drinkingcompletely during this period of your child's life. Extreme drinkingcan cause permanent damage to your baby's health. Therefore, it isbest to stop breastfeeding if you cannot restrain from drinkingalcohol, although breast milk is one of the best types of food yourchild can get so it would be selfish to deprive your baby of it.