Does alcohol pass into your breastmilk? 

Yes it does, the level of alcohol in your breastmilk is about same, or slightly less, as in your blood, it enters and leaves at a similar pace. Irish Law (in line with EU legislation) considers alcohol free products as having no more than 0.5% ABV. A 140lb/10st woman would need to drink about 13 pints in 5 hours to reach a blood alcohol level high enough for her milk to no longer be considered alcohol free under EU legislation. If she did that, chances are she’d be passed out (or in a coma) so couldn’t feed the baby anyway. To put a bit more context on it, someone would be visibly drunk with a blood alcohol level of 0.1%. So really, the amounts of alcohol ingested by a nursing infant are very small.

I’m not comfortable with any alcohol in my breastmilk, how long do I have to wait to feed?

That all depends on how much you drink. Alcohol levels are usually highest in breast milk 30-60 minutes after an alcoholic drink is consumed or 60 to 90 minutes when drunk with food. Alcohol leaves you system at approximately one unit per hour. A ‘standard drink’ and a unit of alcohol are not the same things in Ireland! In Ireland a standard drink has about 10 grams of pure alcohol. In the UK a standard drink, also called a unit of alcohol, has about 8 grams of pure alcohol. So, it will take about 75 minutes for an Irish ‘standard drink’ to leave your system. 

Some examples of a standard drink in Ireland are:

• a pub measure of spirits (35.5ml)
• a small glass of wine (125ml, 12.5% volume)
• a half pint of normal beer

Starting your drink while feeding the baby makes the wait for the next feed shorter for baby.

Does pumping and dumping make a difference?

No, pumping and dumping the milk will not eliminate the alcohol in your breast milk quicker as only time can do this. That said if you are not feeding your baby during the time that there is alcohol in your breast milk you may need to pump to maintain supply. If you do not wish to give the baby the milk you can use it in the bath, to help sooth nappy rash or even have it made into jewellery or a glass ornament!

Ok, I’d like to have a drink and not wait for it to leave my system, what else do I need to know?

• Premature or low birth weight babies may have more difficulty processing even tiny amounts of alcohol
• Newborns under 3 months have less developed livers for processing alcohol
• It is not safe to bedshare if you have alcohol in your system 
• There is no research that guarantees the safety of consuming moderate amounts alcohol while nursing and equally none that proves harm
• Heavy drinking can impact the milk ejection reflex (let down) which may lead to the baby being fussy at the breast and the amount of milk they take in for a few hours (they do tend to make up for it later though). Regular heaving drinking may impact milk supply and baby’s growth. 
• You can calculate your blood alcohol levels and how long before it leaves your system here https://www.alcohol.org/bac-calculator/