While you were pregnant, you likely didn’t consume alcohol at all due to the possibility of harming your unborn baby. But do you need to continue this practice when breastfeeding?
During pregnancy, any alcohol in mom’s bloodstream can pass through the placenta and to the baby. Due to the fetus small size and immature systems, alcohol breaks down more slowly for the fetus than for mom, so even as mom’s blood alcohol level decreases, baby’s remains elevated. This prolonged exposure can be harmful to your baby’s development. Your baby’s rapid growth in utero can be impacted in different ways at different points in pregnancy.

Additionally, every pregnancy and every woman’s hormone levels are different enough to make general statements about the safety of alcohol in pregnancy impossible. Experts agree, then, avoiding alcohol altogether when pregnant is the best course of action.

Can i drink alcohol while breastfeeding ?

During breastfeeding, however, the amount of alcohol that gets to your baby through breastmilk, is much lower than through the placenta before birth. Your body metabolizes the alcohol out of your breastmilk the same as it does out of your blood. So while alcohol does pass easily into breastmilk, it also passes easily back out of the milk.
 
For a 120-pound woman, it takes about 2-3 hours to eliminate one serving of alcohol from her system. Her blood alcohol level (thus the breastmilk alcohol level) will peak around 30-60 minutes after having the drink. If she eats with the drink, it will take about 60-90 minutes for the level to peak. And the effects of alcohol are proportional to the amount a mom drinks – more drinks equals higher blood alcohol levels for longer, and a longer span of time until the alcohol is eliminated from her system. Methods such as pumping, drinking a lot of water, “sleeping it off”, or drinking coffee will not speed up this process. Mom’s weight also makes a difference – if she’s heavier, she will metabolize alcohol more quickly than a lighter person drinking the same amount.
 
The American Academy of Pediatrics states that an occasional alcoholic beverage is fine when a mom is breastfeeding. They add, “nursing should take place 2 hours or longer after the alcohol intake to minimize its concentration in the ingested milk” (Eidelman et al., 2012). Nursing your baby right before you have your glass of wine or bottle of beer will help to minimize baby’s exposure to alcohol – by the time he’s ready to nurse again, your body will have metabolized most of the alcohol from your system. But what if he’s hungry during that time? In their theoretical calculations, Haastrup, Pottegård & Damkier (2014) determined that the amount of alcohol a breastfeeding infant would get even at peak maternal concentration would only be 0.005% – or barely any – of the maternal dose.

Despite the folk tales that having a drink will increase milk supply, enhance calories in milk, or help with mom’s let-down, studies show that alcohol may impact breastfeeding negatively. Research shows that the production of prolactin and oxytocin – the two major milk making hormones – is disturbed when a mother consumes alcohol. In fact, after a mom drinks an alcoholic beverage, her baby may  nurse more frequently but take in a smaller volume of milk – perhaps by as much as 23%. Other studies show that alcohol actually inhibits let-down, which may be why babies get less milk even though their nursing more. In addition, alcohol flavors breastmilk and changes its smell – which baby may not like! Hilary Jacobson, author of Mother Food, a book about galactagogues, suggests that historic beer is not comparable to today’s products in terms of ingredients and brewing processes, which may account for the difference between what was seen in earlier generations and the persistent suggestion that beer has milk-enhancing properties.
 
Alcohol can have other effects on your baby, as well, such as a sleepy baby who is hard to rouse, but who gets less sleep overall. Infants whose moms drink alcohol daily are at risk for slow weight gain, and potential changes in motor development. Because your baby’s liver is immature, it takes twice as long for an infant to metabolize alcohol as it does for an adult, and this lasts until they are at least 3 months old. So the alcohol exposure of a younger baby may have more of an effect than it would in an older baby.
 
While binge drinking hasn’t been well-studied in relation to breastfeeding, it is not advised due to the dangers of an intoxicated mom caring for a baby. Research shows that 2 or more drinks at a time can impair mom’s judgement and functioning and may be associated with depression and fatigue – making caring for an infant more difficult.
 
If you choose to drink alcohol when you’re breastfeeding, keep these tips in mind:
Minimize exposure during the first 3 months of your infant’s life
Choose low alcohol or non-alcoholic alternatives
Consider diluting your beverage of choice, and sip it slowly to limit your intake (Try using flavored water with your wine for a different taste, or create a spritzer with carbonated water.)
Eat before and while drinking (Eating while drinking – especially high-fat foods – decreases the rate of alcohol absorption.)
Nurse your baby right before having a drink and avoid breastfeeding for 2-3 hours after drinking

References:
Eidelman, A. I., Schanler, R. J., Johnston, M., Landers, S., Noble, L., Szucs, K., & Viehmann, L. (2012). Breastfeeding and the use of human milk. Pediatrics, 129(3), e827-e841.
 
Fisher, D. (n.a.). Social Drugs and Breastfeeding Handling an issue that isn’t black & white. Accessed online at http://www.health-e-learning.com/en/resources/articles/40-social-drugs-and-breastfeeding
 
Haastrup, M. B., Pottegård, A., & Damkier, P. (2014). Alcohol and breastfeeding. Basic & clinical pharmacology & toxicology, 114(2), 168-173.
 
Ho, E., Collantes, A., Kapur, B. M., Moretti, M., & Koren, G. (2000). Alcohol and breast feeding: calculation of time to zero level in milk. Biology of the Neonate, 80(3), 219-222.
 
Jacobson, H. (2011, Oct 13). Beer as a Galactagogue – A Brief History. Accessed online at http://lactogenicdiet.blogspot.com/2011/10/beer-as-galactagogue-brief-history.html
Mennella, J. A., & Pepino, M. Y. (2010). Breastfeeding and prolactin levels in lactating women with a family history of alcoholism. Pediatrics, 125(5), e1162-e1170.
 
Mohrbacher, N. (2010). Breastfeeding Answers Made Simple. Amarillo, TX: Hale Publishing.