INFO:

For all the nursing moms out there celebrating the 4th tomorrow, I know what you’re wondering: Can I have a poolside margarita? 🍹🏝️ When a mother drinks, the alcohol level in their milk is about the same as in their blood alcohol level. The baby consumes the milk, not the alcohol directly, so the level of alcohol they are exposed to is extremely low. Even with very heavy drinking (which isn’t a good idea for other reasons), the breastmilk alcohol content would be similar to, say, orange juice. No long-term impacts have been identified. So don’t worry about having a beer or two at that BBQ! What if you want to be super cautious and not expose your baby to alcohol at all? No problem. You can have a drink, but you need to wait for two hours afterward to let the alcohol metabolize before breastfeeding. There is no need to “pump and dump” — the alcohol leaves your milk as it leaves your bloodstream. If you want to see exactly how much alcohol enters breast milk, check out the calculator in my link in bio.