Breastfeeding and Alcohol

Q - My baby is 7 weeks old and I am exclusively breastfeeding and very happy doing it. I am, though, really missing a glass of wine or two…not like I need to drink a lot but I feel very conflicted about it while I’m nursing. How much is ok to drink, how long do I have to wait before feeding my baby, and how long does it take for the alcohol to actually leave my body?

A - Normally we say that alcohol takes about 3-4 hours to make it through to breast milk.  Therefore, if you have two glasses of wine over a two hour period the alcohol will be in the breast milk starting about 3 hours after starting the first drink and will no longer accumulate after 4 hours after the last drink is finished.  One way of dealing with this is to have a supply of breast milk on hand to feed the baby during that period and then pump and discard the milk produced during this period.

- Dr. Linda Ducholke, a mother of two, has been a successful Family Practitioner with Obstetrical privileges for the past 20 years. The main focus and passion of her practice is obstetrics and childcare.

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