Breastfeeding and alcohol

Hi A,

I don't drink alcohol myself, so I can't give you a definite answer on that, but from what I know, if you pump and discard your milk after drinking, the next feed will be perfectly fine for your little one.

I do advise you to start pumping and offering the bottle to your little one within 2 weeks, otherwise it can take a long time or not work at all to get your little one used to the bottle (like with my oldest, who took 3 months of trying, and my youngest, who never did). Within 2 weeks, your milk supply will really be well established. The engorgement will be over then, and your little one will get used to it.

Never mind.

I'd only start practicing with a bottle if your baby is latching well at the breast and your milk supply is well established. Choose a bottle that mimics breastfeeding as closely as possible in terms of feeding technique. Get advice on which options work best for that. That way, you'll have the least amount of trouble. Bottle-feeding is already different for a baby than breastfeeding because the bottle has a different (foreign) smell and the nipple feels different from the breast, so switching can sometimes be tricky.

But it's still useful to occasionally give your baby a bottle in addition to breastfeeding, so you know they'll get some milk if you're ever unavailable for whatever reason, or if you're out and about and don't feel comfortable breastfeeding in public.

@Tooby I don't think she was asking for your opinion on whether she's dependent on alcohol. It adds no value, so you can keep that to yourself.

It was a question, not an opinion.

Anyway, you also gave her advice, even though she asked for experiences in two specific areas. So you're just doing the same thing.

I’ve also had a drink at a wedding myself. My little boy was staying over and had a bottle. When I went back to work, my production went down a bit and I had to start giving a bottle too. I was never scared of that, it’s totally fine and really nice that he had already practiced a bit.
Just take it easy with it, then you’ll last longer.
Our son did fine with the narrow-neck bottles from Dr. Brown. While my cousin’s baby only wanted the wide-neck bottles. Try out a few different types (borrow some if you have to) so the little one drinks well and gets as little air as possible (air causes colic and is a surefire way to get crying). And yeah, after about 2 or 3 weeks, just practice occasionally. I also pumped around 8/9 PM and gave that bottle at 11 PM, so he could sleep a bit longer at night.
Funny detail: when I drank (beer), I still pumped a full bottle and it smelled terrible haha.
Of course, I pumped the next morning too and didn’t breastfeed again until mid-afternoon.

Since I breastfed my oldest for 2 years and my youngest is already a year old, I think my advice on the “specific topic” of pumping and bottle-feeding does matter, since I’ve gained “experience” with it. That’s why I asked this forum, outsiders, for their experiences.

That’s why I mention that I don’t have experience combining it with drinking alcohol, but there are plenty of mothers who do it and have done so .

Never mind.

With my son, I started pumping for the first time at 5-6 weeks. That was on the advice of an internationally renowned lactation consultant. She said that your baby needs to learn to breastfeed well first, but that giving a bottle afterwards doesn't cause any problems for breastfeeding. From 6 weeks on, we gave the last evening feed (at 11 PM) in a bottle, so I could sleep early. Never had any issues with my son refusing the breast, and now he still drinks twice a day.

As for pumping, I also got the advice to start after 5 weeks. If you start pumping right from the beginning, your body thinks it needs to produce more milk, which can lead to extremely full breasts and then you get stuck in a vicious cycle where you want/need to pump because you feel so much pressure. Keep in mind that every body is different; I have friends and colleagues for whom pumping (or breastfeeding in general) didn't work out. Regarding pumping: relax and try it out a few times before the baby arrives, so you don't have to do it at the supreme moment.

Sorry that people ask questions as guests; you usually don’t see them anymore.

I’ve also done breastfeeding, but I have no experience with alcohol and breastfeeding. I just postponed drinking alcohol; I thought it was a nicer idea to breastfeed my little girl whenever she needed it! I don’t care that much about alcohol to have to give it up for that.

Maria, you say you give the bottle at 11 PM so you can sleep early, but shouldn't you still pump, or does your body skip a feeding then?
Wow, MamaN, that's amazing. 2 years of breastfeeding! Did you only breastfeed, or did you also use formula? I'm just 16 days into motherhood and I'm really enjoying breastfeeding. My daughter had a good suckling reflex right after birth, but after 4 days (and sore nipples) we realized my milk supply wasn't coming in and she had already lost 9% of her birth weight. We had to give supplementary formula for a day, and then my breastfeeding took off like a train, so I'm enjoying it extra now. When I go back to work I'll need to pump, so I'm also looking for people with experience.

By the way, I have the Medela Swing at home, and it comes with a special bottle where the nipple drinks like a breast. (According to the instructions, I haven't tested it yet.)

@Tooby, you're welcome to share advice or your opinion, and I'm sure you don't mean it that way, but it comes across as blaming A for wanting to drink alcohol as soon as she's given birth and breastfeed. Mothers who breastfeed know how hard this work is and that it doesn't all happen automatically, and that you give up quite a lot of yourself despite the outside world thinking this is just how it should be. I myself don't drink alcohol outside of my pregnancies and breastfeeding periods, so it's very easy for me to say just don't drink. But it's not just something trivial, so I can understand that A might want it after 6 weeks on a special occasion; she certainly wants to do it responsibly.

@gwen, how lovely! Congratulations, girl! I exclusively breastfed my eldest for 2 years and now my youngest for 1 year. My eldest did get a syringe of formula on the first day because I had a tough delivery (16 hours of labor, 2 hours of pushing, and ultimately an emergency C-section), so I needed to recover and sleep a bit, but otherwise I kept latching on. It can be a bit of a search sometimes, and it's important to have someone in your circle who teaches you how to latch and unlatch properly in the first few days so that, indeed, you don't get sore nipples and such. But with the next one you're trained, then hihi, with a second it was so easy, I had milk right away. I did get some engorgement, but okay, my youngest only gets breast milk; unfortunately, she also has cow's milk allergy. Maybe it's useful to pump occasionally so you can teach her the bottle, I started too late with both. With my eldest, with 6/7 weeks, it ultimately took 3 months before he took it, and my youngest simply doesn't take the bottle.. she only drinks from a cup. On their own, they're also quite creative if they don't really take the bottle. But it would be nice if she did already, it's also a bit calmer to leave you (which is already so difficult hihi).

@Tooby, did you find another victim to vent your frustrations on? Leave people alone.
Yes mamaN, I totally agree.

@Jootje, don't say it's like that, of course, but ladies who often react like this are (still) not mothers themselves and have no experience with any of it, they only know the theory. Maybe that will change once they get that experience themselves or maybe they'll have some frustrations too. And congratulations on your wonder child! Your second?

@mamaN, yeah, that's why. I've been annoyed by her attitude for a while now. I just couldn't hold it in anymore.
Thanks, that's so sweet of you. Yep, pregnant with the second one. Couldn't be happier. And you?

@jootje, yeah that was actually my first reaction too

I have two little ones, one just turned 3 and the other will be 1 in two days. It goes by so fast and you realize that even more when you have your next one, thinking "please stay little " How old is your first?

Ahhh how nice! And it's nice that they don't have such a big age difference. My son turned 3 in June. So do you also have a stubborn toddler at home? Or is it not that bad?

And congratulations in advance on the youngest. Yes, it goes by so fast sometimes. But it's also incredibly fun to see how much they learn!

My son too. He's sometimes so cheeky with his responses. Then I really think.. did you really just say that? And then I have to laugh anyway. They're still so pure. Wonderful!

Stubborn is a mild way of putting it hahaha. Sometimes you've got your hands full They're remembering so much now and repeating everything you say, so you have to be careful what you say. Haha it's fun though, they're really developing. Those tantrums, which are thankfully much less frequent now, were pretty intense I have to say. I always thought my kid wouldn't do that I was wrong hahaha