>laura, i have my moms who drink more than 1 serving of alcohol per day to
>express after a binge ie.2+ drinks or  wedding reception to express milk
>into "open container" and store in fridge for 24 hours and due to the
>extreme volatility (evaporation) of alcohol this is more than enough time
>for the alcohol to evaporate.

I saw some info on evaporation of alcohol from foods and there was much
less evaporation than is commonly believed.  For instance, there was almost
none lost in cooking.  It would be best if someone would do this study on
breastmilk.  Until then, I would not be sure this "standing to eliminate
alcohol" would be effective.

It might be more efficient to leave the breastmilk in the breast long
enough for it to give up the alcohol to circulation and be processed by the
liver.  Of course, how long this would take would depend on several
factors, such as amount of alcohol consumed, foods consumed with alcohol
(slow down processing of alcohol), size of mother, age of baby, etc.  So
pumping and dumping might be preferred to leaving the milk in the breast
too long and running the risks of engorgement and baby hunger.  The "work"
the moms go into making the milk is negligible compared to the work of a
lifetime of making choices to optimize their child's inherited gifts for
intelligence, health, emotional well-being, and so on.

As a side issue, I imagine breastmilk stored in an open container in the
refrigerator for 24 hours would pick up quite a bit of "refrigerator
flavor."  When anyone in my family puts butter in the refrigerator without
wrapping it in plastic,  I just throw it away.  I find it inedible.

Arly Helm                                       [log in to unmask]
MS, Nutrition; CLE, IBCLC; Lactation Consultant