What happens if an infant drinks alcohol

Even if a mother were binge drinking , one study found that the levels of alcohol in her breast milk would not reach clinically significant amounts.

Of course, binge drinking is not advised. Alcohol levels typically peak 30 to 60 minutes after drinking an alcoholic beverage. The alcohol can be detected in breast milk for two to three hours. This will give your liver time to filter the alcohol. The more alcohol you drink, the higher your blood alcohol level will climb. The level of alcohol in your breast milk is equivalent to the alcohol level in your blood. Extra drinks prolong the duration that alcohol will be detectable in blood and breast milk.

Alcohol is in breast milk as long as alcohol is in your bloodstream. Once the blood alcohol level peaks, it will slowly dissipate as your liver is able to process it.

You may have heard of women pumping breast milk immediately after drinking alcohol and discarding it. If you plan to drink alcohol and know your baby will be hungry within the two-hour window after you drink, you can always pump ahead of time.

If the baby is hungry within two hours after you drink a moderate amount of alcohol and you did not pump ahead, it is likely safe to breast-feed. Again, the amount of alcohol transferred to your baby through breast milk is so low there are no known problems, complications, or issues.

At moderate levels one drink per day , alcohol has no known complications or side effects for babies, especially if the mother waits two hours after drinking to breast-feed or pump. Exposure to alcohol above this moderate level, however, may lead to delayed development, growth problems, and interrupted sleep patterns for the infant.

Like other drugs, alcohol can pass from the mother's blood through the placenta to the baby. Alcohol is broken down more slowly in the baby than in an adult.

Alcohol levels can stay high in the baby's body. This affects development. No amount of alcohol during pregnancy is safe. There is no safe time to drink in pregnancy. Even light or moderate drinking can affect the growing baby.

The symptoms of FASDs may look like other health conditions or problems. Make sure your child sees his or her healthcare provider for a diagnosis. Most often, a healthcare provider can diagnose FASDs based on the mother's history and how the baby looks. The healthcare provider will examine the baby to look for changes in the face, eyes, and upper lip. A newborn may show signs of alcohol withdrawal. These include shaking and a high-pitched cry.

Older children may have learning tests. The provider will check for development problems. There is no single test to diagnose FASDs. Newborns may need special care in the newborn intensive care unit NICU. Below, we will answer these questions and look at the possible impacts of drinking alcohol while breastfeeding in more detail.

Pumping and dumping will not remove the alcohol from your bloodstream, so it will not affect the alcohol level in your milk. While a barley component in beer—not the alcohol—does boost prolactin production [4], alcohol alone does so as well [5] However, in one study, milk production was actually decreased [6].

The research shows that nursing infants actually consumed less milk in the three-to-four-hour period after mothers consumed a small to moderate amount of alcohol [7,8,9]. Menella also found that when pumping milk two hours after drinking alcohol, mothers obtained significantly less milk [8]. Current evidence shows that, rather than producing more milk for your baby by drinking alcohol, the effects of alcohol on your body actually mean your baby will get less of your valuable milk.

Why is this? Mennella, Pepino, and Teff [5] found that alcohol significantly reduces oxytocin levels while also increasing prolactin levels. Both hormones influence the milk ejection reflex. The lower the level of oxytocin, the longer the delay in ejection of milk.

The higher the level of prolactin, the longer the delay. The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine state in Clinical Protocol 21 that consuming alcohol during lactation has several negative effects ranging from mild to severe. As alcohol is completely water- and fat-soluble, it enters the bloodstream and human milk very easily [13].

Another review, conducted by Nonacs [14], showed that motor development of infants who were exposed to alcohol in human milk regularly was decreased or delayed.

The more alcohol the infants consumed through breast milk, the lower the infants scored on indices of motor development. Depending on how much you drink, in addition to the effects on your milk production and ejection reflex, you can expect some degree of other effects on yourself.

Alcohol produces sedative effects as well as some stimulant effects. There is some evidence that suggests that people who are currently lactating may metabolize alcohol more quickly than non-lactating people. There is clear evidence that eating food while consuming alcohol also reduces blood alcohol levels after consumption. Drinking alcohol on an empty stomach increases the effects of alcohol on prolactin and oxytocin as well as on your body [17]. You should not sleep with your baby if you have been drinking alcohol, as your natural reflexes have been impaired.

By interfering with your milk ejection reflex, alcohol may further reduce your milk production: without this reflex, your baby cannot nurse and empty the breast effectively. When milk stays in the breasts, it tells your body to reduce production. Several sources offer safety suggestions to consider when breastfeeding and drinking alcohol.

Please check with your Ministry of Health or other pertinent government resource for appropriate information in your country. Thomas W. Hale, R. This does not necessarily mean the dose of alcohol in milk is high, only that the levels in plasma correspond closely with those in milk.

The absolute amount dose of alcohol transferred into milk is generally low and is a function of the maternal level. Older studies, some in animals, suggested that beer or more likely barley may stimulate prolactin levels. Significant amounts of alcohol are secreted into breastmilk although it is not considered harmful to the infant if the amount and duration are limited. The absolute amount of alcohol transferred into milk is generally low.

Excess levels may lead to drowsiness, deep sleep, weakness, and decreased linear growth in the infant. Reduction of letdown is apparently dose-dependent and requires alcohol consumption of 1. Avoid breastfeeding during and for 2 — 3 hours after drinking alcohol. Children with fetal alcohol syndrome have facial features such as small eyes, a thin upper lip, and a smooth philtrum the groove between nose and upper lip. In children with milder problems, FASD can be harder to diagnose. No blood test or other medical test can diagnose FASD.

The child may go to see a team of specialists who can help make the diagnosis. They might include a developmental pediatrician, neurologist, genetic specialist, speech therapist, occupational therapist, and psychologist. There is no cure for fetal alcohol syndrome or other FASDs. But many things can help children reach their full potential, especially if the problem is found early.

Doctors may prescribe medicines to help with related problems, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ADHD , depression , aggressive behavior, sleep problems, and anxiety.

Parent training can help caregivers learn how to best care for a child with FAS and handle any problem behaviors. Alcohol use beer, wine, or hard liquor during pregnancy is the leading cause of preventable birth defects and intellectual disabilities in the United States. Fetal alcohol syndrome and other FASDs can be prevented by not drinking any alcohol during pregnancy.