For nine long months, you gave up your body for the sake of your child. You avoided your favorite Cokes, made sure you did not intake too much salt, stayed away from shellfish and resisted that beautiful glass of red wine that you used to enjoy with your bubble bath each night. And all of this was okay, because you knew the end result; a healthy baby was worth it. Now, you are holding your precious baby – struggling to get 8 hours of sleep and are excited to have your body back to yourself. Except for you have decided to take the road to health and breastfeed. Doctors and books are now telling you again what you can and cannot eat or drink in order to not compromise your baby’s health. Alcohol, of course is one of those things.

But recent research and information provided by the La Leche League is now trying to help nursing mothers to understand that they breastfeeding is not all about self-sacrifice. Scientific research into the effects of alcohol and breastfeeding has even indicated that having a beer or glass of Chablis while you are breastfeeding is not going to hurt your baby. Here’s why.

Alcohol enters the breast milk in the same way it does the blood stream. Similarly, when the alcohol has left the blood stream it is also out of the breast milk. Your milk might be left with a sour after taste from your drink of choice, but the effects of alcohol are no longer a threat to your baby. What many nursing mothers do after indulging in an adult beverage is pump and dump their breast milk like a mad woman, ridden with guilt and worried that they will intoxicate their baby. Research suggests that this not necessary. In fact, what they do recommend is that you pump milk prior to drinking so that your baby will have fresh, untainted breast milk while you are enjoying your favorite wine or mixed drink. Then, to flush your body with plenty of fluids and allow the alcohol to leave your blood stream and breast milk.

Now obviously, this is not to suggest or recommend that breastfeeding mothers now have the right to become alcoholics or over indulge in alcohol. This is simply talking about having a drink in moderation. It is also about the realization that just because you are breastfeeding, does not mean that you are necessarily greatly restricted as you were during pregnancy. For many women, the choice to not breastfeed is due to the fact that they do not want to be restrained from enjoying things that they enjoy in life, such as a cold beer or glass of wine. Being tied down to your baby for feedings can be compounded when you are also limited about what you can enjoy.

What you should know if you are breastfeeding is that during the first two months of your infant’s life, their liver is underdeveloped. This means that drinking and breastfeeding CAN hurt your baby. But as mentioned above, once the alcohol is out of your blood stream and breast milk, your baby will be fine. If you are still concerned, then you should go ahead and pump and dump your milk after wards so that you will not feel guilty after having a drink.

If you have chosen to breastfeed, you should be careful what you eat and drink. Spicy foods can cause stomach upset that is more debilitating than what a glass of wine would cause. The key is to keep things in balance. You should never breastfeed your baby while you are in the midst of drinking, because this would ensure that they would get some alcohol content from your breast milk. Also, if you are planning to drink make sure that there is someone sober to watch your baby. But the bottom line is that sometimes a small drink in the evening as you spend some time with your spouse can really take the edge off of life and make you feel like an adult again. If you are skipping out because you are afraid that you will hurt your baby, don’t! Breast feeding is a huge sacrifice and one that you will never regret, but you don’t have to feel that you have to avoid all the things in life that you enjoy.