If you're out and about visiting friends this Christmas, or taking a break from maternity leave to catch up with colleagues as the office party, it's reasonable to give yourself a night off. For starters, plan ahead a little, and get into the swing of expressing breastmilk so that you don't have to generate expressed milks for lots of feeds too close to the date you want to go out. Also, if you do want to drink alcohol but are worried about it's affect on your breastmilk, you can continue to give stored breastmilk for a couple of feeds when you get home. If you do this, however, remember to massage your breasts and possibly express a little of the milk you are not going to give your baby, just to make sure you boobs don't get too full while you're out and about, and when you get home and aren't feeding your baby yourself.

Tips for safe drinking while breastfeeding

  • If you do drink, always be aware of what, and how much, you're drinking - when out, ask hosts not to refill your glass
  • Eating a meal with your drink lowers the rate of alcohol absorption, so a glass of wine over dinner is better than one taken alone
  • Strong alcoholic drinks like cocktails can take many hours to clear the bloodstream, it's best to steer clear of these completely
  • If you're not sure when your baby will next want to feed, or you want to have more than a couple of units then you can express milk ahead of time (see the intro above)
  • If you know that you'll find it difficult to limit yourself once you've had a glass of wine then it's probably best to abstain completely
  • If you usually like a drink every day and need some ideas for keeping drinking to a minimum then remember our suggestions for cutting back on alcohol during pregnancy
  • Avoid breastfeeding your baby if you can feel yourself under the influence of alcohol

If you want to make seeing friends and family special, but are concerned about toasting your new baby with alcohol, check out LoNo who are a mail order company who sell all kinds of wines, sparkling wines and even spirits that have very low/no alcohol in them.