Can an infant who is nursing become intoxicated if their mother is drunk?

Question

Do the alcoholic beverages effect her breast milk? This is a hypothetical question.

Answer 1

everything passes through breast milk !!   everything.  If you are drunk and breastfeeding it is child abuse.  

Answer 2

Yes, alcohol that a mother drinks enters her breast milk.  But it is a smaller concentration than in her blood.  It is metabolized from breast milk at the same rate it is metabolized from blood, in general about 1 drink per hour with 1 drink defined as 12 oz of beer, 5 oz of wine or 1 oz of hard liquor.  It would be possible for a baby to become intoxicated as the alcohol in breast milk would be unmetabolized alcohol, and because a baby has low blood volume and underdeveloped blood brain barrier and intestinal tract it would not take very much alcohol to become intoxicated.

Answer 3

well it can go into the brestmilk so they say that if you are going to have a few drinks to pump right before to have a supply and not to feed for another 3-6 hours.... I had a drink one night and I had pumped enough to feed my baby for the rest of the night into the morning so it could pass though my system plus I also drank A LOT of extra water that night!

Answer 4

Yes the baby gets whaqtever is in the mothers body. She should either wait to breastfeed, pump and dump, or just wait to drink until the baby isn't breastfeeding anymore.

Answer 5

If you're going to enjoy an occasional alcoholic beverage or have more than one drink, wait at least two hours per drink before nursing your baby to give the alcohol a chance to dissipate. Be sure to down a nonalcoholic drink for every cocktail you quaff, to ward off dehydration.

Answer 6

yes  

Answer 7

If you are breast feeding, you should not give the baby breast milk for atleast twenty four hours after the last drink you had.  A child could get very sick from alcohol consumption or die.

Answer 8

My lactation consultant told me the baby can feel everything the mother feels (alcohol wise), so yes the baby can get drunk.

If you want to get drunk  I would suggest either pumping a days worth of breast milk or formula feeding baby for a day after drinking, and pumping and throwing the milk away throughout the day, to get it all out.

I have also heard (from anther lactation consultant) that as soon as you are not drunk anymore, pump and throw away, and the milk after that will be safe.

I know you said it was hypothetical, but just in case someone else would read this.