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Home Test for Alcohol in Breast Milk: Love it or Leave it?
November 26, 2008 at 9:03 AM by Cafe Suzanne - Comments (13)
photo from UpSpringBaby
There's lots of conflicting info out there about whether or not you can drink while you're breastfeeding. Some say pump and dump, some say it's okay to have a drink, but wait a few hours before breastfeeding, and some say abstain until you've weaned your little one for good.
Here's a product I just found out about from Babygadget. It's an at-home test that tells you if alcohol is present in your breast milk. All you do is smear some milk on one of the strips—if it changes color then alcohol is in your milk. It's pregnancy pee test simple. It costs $5.99 for three strips; $19.99 for 20 strips, and you can get it at Milkscreen Moms.
What do you think? Would you try it?
Poll
Question: Would you buy an at-home test for alcohol in your breast milk?
Total Votes: 46
FILED UNDER: breastfeeding
Comments:
And there is alcohol in your milk. Look, it is not a perfect world and a little alcohol won't kill your baby. And I even take Tylenol, etc when I have a really bad migraine. But I would give my baby Tylenol if he needed it. I would not give my kiddo a little wine- just enough that he doesn't feel buzzed. It's a hard balance and we all have to make the choice we are comfortable with. But I figure better safe than sorry. I don't take some of my meds that are generally considered safe while nursing. They have not been proven to be safe and who knows what effect they will have on a rapidly developing brain. I can get by with some of my medical issues until I am done breastfeeding.
Leave it
I don't drink that much never more then 2 drinks in a night and that would only be one night a week. I never drink to excess.
My lactation consultant told me it was safe to drink while breastfeeding as long as you don't drink to excess and that you never have to pump and dump because our body is constantly processing breastmilk filtering out anything you might have had to drink. But if you aren't safe to drive you aren't safe to be breastfeeding your baby.
I could have used this when I was still nursing. My anniversary was 2 months after I had my baby. Hubby and I celebrated with a few drinks, and I pumped and dumped for 2 days because I was so paranoid.
I still haven't had a drink, and don't really plan on doing it for awhile. It was surprisingly easy for me to give up all of the "bad" stuff when I got pregnant (actually, before!). I know how alcohol affects me, so I can't imagine doing that to my little guy, or even risking it!
I think this product is a great idea for people who can't wait to have that first drink after Baby's been born, though!
I just don't drink often enough to worry about it. I think if it was cheaper it could be good for those who have this concern.
I think this is a wonderful idea--I rarely drink anyways, and since I have been breastfeeding, have not gone out to girls night becuase I am so paranoid about having a drink!!! This is great at relieving that wonder of --am I going to hurt my child or "wasting" milk.
I wouldn't use it because I wouldn't take the risk. It's easy enough to give up alcohol for the good of your baby.
Come on, how hard is it to give up drinking for a couple of years (pregnancy + breastfeeding)? I don't drink at all, so I guess I just don't see the allure, but it seems to me that there's just no reason to do it. You can celebrate without alcohol, you can relax without alcohol, so why bother with all of this?
What a waste of time and money. If you are responsible enough to go out and buy one of these, you're certantly responsible enough to research and know that having an occational drink while breastfeeding is ok. (not during the actual ACT of breastfeeding, of course). Once the alcohol is out of your system, it's out of your breastmilk.
Of course, not drinking at all is best,
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aehanrahan Nov. 26, 2008 at 9:09 AM