Milkscreen for alcohol?

[flashy09]

So I went out with my girlfriends to dinner last night for the first time since the baby was born. From 6-10 I had 3 glasses of wine. When I came home I had my husband give her another bottle as I wasn't sure whether I had too much alcohol in my milk. I pumped instead and made an 8 oz bottle...which for me is amazing and would be 2 bottles worth! Usually I work for days to get that! So I didn't want to throw it away and was interested in testing it. Anyone used Milkscreen before? Does it tell just if alcohol is present or only over a certain level? How harmful is alcohol in the milk anyway?

I should have thought ahead and not had that 3rd glass, but I knew I had enough bottles....it was pumping out that monster bottle that made me regret it...so much milk to waste!

[elephantmeg]

could you divy the milk into 2 oz batches and mix it in with other milk/save it for when you need a little more

[daisymommy]

Some good info:
http://www.kellymom.com/health/lifestyle/alcohol.html

[MommyofAmaya]

I would use Milkscreen and then decide what to do with it. It has been a long time, but I do think it detects different levels of alcohol. If it is low then you can mix it with other milk as PP suggested. If it is really high (doubtful with only three glasses of wine), then you can toss it.

[dogmom]

All the research I did when I BF was that alcohol is not actively secreted into BM, but mimic the amount of alcohol in the blood. So it's not like the baby is drinking your whole beer, just the percent of alcohol in your blood. So my general rule of thumb is if I had enough alcohol to feel it, I probably shouldn't use the milk. There is a picture of me floating around at a girl's weekend BF with a margariti in my hand. Since I was drinking it at the time it wasn't in the milk yet, and be the time he fed 4-5 hours later it was out of my system. There's about a 20-30 minute window until it is in the milk from when you drink. Once the alcohol leaves your blood it is out of the milk.

[AnnieW625]

I never did. I couldn't pump worth a hill of beans anyway so throwing out breast milk was sacralidge to me. I know not a popular opinion here, but on the rare occasion I did drink I didn't think it was necessary to pump and dump.

[brittone2]

I've BF for almost 8 years now spread across 3 kids, and never pumped and dumped (I rarely pumped anyway). I do enjoy the occasional glass or two of wine or part of a beer.

I just time it as well as I can and if I'm feeling the effects I don't nurse, which is a very rare thing for me (and now that DS2 is older I can usually stall him for a while if need be).

[lhafer]

:yeahthat: to what everyone's said so far.

And on a side note, alcohol can actually increase your milk supply (as you found out!). So a glass of wine here and there isn't a bad thing.

[Pear]

I would probably just use the milk. You would have to drink quite a bit to have more than a negligible amount of alcohol in the breastmilk. The Kelly I'm info is very helpful.

[flashy09]

Sent away for the test strips so will know tomorrow!

[catsnkid]

I have no idea what you should do. I'm not a big drinker, but I did crave a beer really early on and had to go and buy one.

[ZeeBaby]

I never pumped and dumped.

[JamiMac]

I never pumped and dumped.

Me neither, I never worried about it.

[janine]

I barely am able to pump a few oz at a time so feel your pain! The one time I did drink 2 beers after a trying day, I pumped and dumped :(. I had always heard that the baby feels what you feel and since I had a buzz (since I never let myself drink!) I figured i better dump. How were you feeling at the time of pumping? I think the others are right, you can maybe dilute, but the screen sounds like a great option and wish I knew I could drink a bit a lot earlier! I've been telling myself it's only ok AFTER the baby's asleep, fed and I've pumped for the next day- but by then I'm too tired to want to drink!
ps - impressed with 8oz!!

[fedoragirl]

:( I wish I had known about BBB'ers experience 3 days ago. I had 2 oz. of port wine, pumped because I was engorged, and dumped 5 oz. of BM. Bwahaha! Everything I read on the internet said to dump it if I had had a drink in the past 3 hours--when the alcohol is still in the blood. I made DH dump it because I would have cried if I had to do it. Now, I feel like crying.

[mmsmom]

I never worried about 1-2 glasses of wine or beer. I did use Milkscreen when I went on a trip with just adults & I was still nursing. I relied on the Milkscreen to determine if I needed to dump & I did a couple times. But I was surprised about the times I did & didn't based on what & how much I was drinking. Shows it is true that everyone's body reacts to & processes alcohol differently & there are a lot of factors that play into it. So again if it a glass or two I wouldn't worry but for more than that I think Milkscreen is a great tool for peace of mind.

[flashy09]

I don't think you ever need to pump and dump unless engorged or need to pump for other reasons...the alcohol leaves your milk same as it leaves the blood.

As far as did I feel the wine at the time....I did, which is why I gave a bottle. Have a feeling the milk will be too full of sauvignon blanc, but at least i will know what it feels like to have over the limit boobs... going to test after 1 glass and 2 glasses as well just to see what my limit actually is. That huge bottle is so painful to look at, but it was a very fun night that i needed mentally so coming to terms with it, lol

[BayGirl2]

I use Milkscreen to decide whether to pump if I've had more than one drink. I've found that more than 2 glasses of wine or any liquor puts me over the limit. It also increases my milk volume quite a bit. I think I also tend to delay pumping/feeding while I'm out making the alcohol more concentrated. In other words if I drank 1 drink, nursed, drank drink 2 I'd probably have less alcohol in my milk.

I get Milkscreen strips at BRU, btw.