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Alcohol while breastfeeding: use, consequences, what is dangerous
Alcohol while breastfeeding is bad for your baby. Even in microscopic doses, the poison, along with the mother’s milk, enters the child’s blood and soaks all his tissues, intoxication occurs.
Why alcohol is dangerous during lactation
Sometimes it is difficult to abstain from alcoholic beverages for 1.5-2 years, which include pregnancy, then lactation. Sometimes there is a keen desire to drink at least a little wine, especially during a festive feast. Still, it is strongly recommended that you completely give up alcohol for the first three months.
Alcohol while breastfeeding can change the taste of milk and the baby will refuse to breastfeed.
How alcoholic beverages affect a child’s body:
- Alcohol is bad for the baby’s nervous system. Most likely, he will fall asleep quickly, but in a dream he will often wake up and cry. And the regular intake of alcoholic beverages leads to mental retardation.
- Alcoholic drinks affect the cardiovascular system. Heartbeat is disturbed, weakness, suffocation is manifested.
- Alcohol provokes intestinal colic. Ethyl alcohol irritates the gastrointestinal tract. Beneficial substances are practically not absorbed. The child may weigh little and lag behind in physical development.
Regular use of alcohol by the mother can make the child addicted to alcohol and the cravings will increase as they get older.
Consequences of drinking alcohol during lactation
If you do decide to drink, then listen to the recommendations:
- Feed your baby before drinking or pumping. Put milk in the refrigerator, there it will not lose its properties within XNUMX hours.
- The dose of ethanol drunk should not exceed 15 ml, maximum 30. 15 ml is equivalent to 35 ml of 40% drinks; 100-130 dry wine; 90-100 sweet; 300 ml of weak beer.
- Drink only quality drinks. Do not forget that in addition to ethyl alcohol, which is often poorly cleaned, it also contains chemical impurities. Especially in sweet wines and liqueurs.
During lactation, it is forbidden to consume energy drinks.
How much alcohol is kept in breast milk
Alcohol reaches breast milk in 30-40 minutes. 100 ml of a weak drink decreases its concentration within 2 hours, and strong drinks are removed for at least 5 hours. Therefore, if you drank a glass of wine or beer, then after 3 hours you can feed your baby.
Alcohol and breast milk are incompatible, so it is better to abstain from it for the entire lactation period, or even for the first 3 months. If you still can not live without alcohol, then heed the advice.