It is really a subject with mixed views. For some moms, the social drink or drink with a special dinner is an important part of her culture/lifestyle and she may feel she has missed that throughout her pregnancy. I would hate to see moms avoid breastfeeding entirely because they feel they can't have a drink now and then. When a mom asks about alcohol, I tell her that opinions vary, but in general it is not the "zero tolerance" approach it is in pregnancy. An occasional drink with dinner or occasional social drink is probably not a concern. If mom has several drinks, or uses alcohol to excess, we would be concerned not only about any effect directly on baby via the milk, but the concern regardless of how she feeds is whether she is in condidtion to care for her infant! There are some who say only drink right after nursing and don't nurse for 1-2 hours per drink. I personally feel this is a little extreme. I like the approach that if mom still feels the effects of the drink, she might want to use some stored EBM until she feels it is "out of her system". In all cases, one needs to consider not only what theoretical effect the small amount of alcohol will have on baby vs the known effects of formula on baby. One misconception is that once alcohol is in the milk, that milk must be discarded or the alcohol goes to baby. As I understand it, it is a 2-way street. When blood levels are greater than milk levels, it goes into the milk. When milk levels are greater than blood levels, it goes back into the blood. (Please correct me if I am wrong-I'm not sure where I got that info over the years. I think transfer back and forth from blood to milk can occur in the alveoli, but not sure if this can occur with milk in the ducts.) Therefore, a mom may not need to "pump and dump" just to get rid of the alcohol, but only if she skips a direct feeding, is feeling full and uncomfortable and wants to be sure she doesn't make her breasts "think" it is time to cut back because they have not been "emptied". Winnie *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html