alcohol while breast feeding?

[joko]

my sis seems to think this is ok on occasion - is it?

she also has been told not to express milk until after 6 months - i think it would ok on occasion and i think that this is probably just a guide.

she also says you cannot use formula at the same time as breast milk?

can anyone confirm or debunk any of these things please?

thanks

[cherryelm]

The alcohol is passed to the baby in the breast milk so it really is a no no. You can express breast milk from the day your baby is born. You can use breast and formula but since breast milk is very much supply and demand the more you feed or express the more milk your breasts make so you shouldn't need to mix feed. If she wants to leave a bottle for someone else to give to the baby she can just express a bottle either using a breast pump ( the easiest way ) or by hand which is a bit of a fine art.

[nickynoonoo]

im 21 weeks pregnant and when i had my booking in with the midwife she gave me lots 2 read. I got a mag called bumps an babies the national childbirth trust in there is a part about breastfeeding myths true or false one says you cant drink alcohol if you breastfeed when you look at the answers it tells you its false .i still wouldnt drink myself just 2 be on the safe side.

[Hellion]

I breast fed for two years and on accasion I had a glass of wine or a drink, just don't do excess.

You can give a baby formula as well as breast milk BUT the baby suckling stimulates milk production, by introducing a bottle then the body will slow down the milk production. I never gave my baby formula at all, (wouldn't even know how to make it up!)

I had to go back to work after 4 months and I started expressing and freezing 1 month before that so I think that is a myth.

[Pippa68]

Espressing milk will also keep up your milk production ~ the only reason I can see for not expressing may be that you haven't yet mastered the 'latching on' problem which many mums and babies face....

When I had my first baby she was in special care, and I didn't actually breastfeed her for 10 days, however she did have expressed milk.

As for alcohol, the odd occasion won't hurt ~ but not a regular occurance!

[Pippa68]

Ooops..the formula Q!

I wouldn't recommend mixing the two, however on occasion it is probably ok. I would imagine the baby may become quite confused with the change, and as Hellion has quite rightly said it won't do the milk production much good.

[rosepetal]

I have mixed breast and formula milk for my second child with no problems. I breastfed my first child exclusively and had real problems weaning him off (he was nearly two!). Also, my midwife assured me that it was fine to have a glass of wine now and again.