This post is super popular so I am updating it for 2018!
Every time I read or hear someone recommend that a breastfeeding mother pump and dump if she wants to have an alcoholic drink or few, it makes me cringe. Where did this term come from? Where did it start?
original photo courtesy Kimery Davis
I know when I was pregnant the first time and discussing how soon I might be able to have a girl’s night out again with a friend (Haha), we discussed how I could pump and dump my breastmilk and have a few drinks. Well little did I know then, this is a ridiculous term, and mostly unecessary.
I feel confident discussing this and having a few drinks myself (while nursing) because I have thoroughly researched it. I was nervous about having even one drink after my daughter was born. Years later with my second, not so much. Now I am on my third baby and feel confident drinking in moderation can be done safely without needing to pump and dump breastmilk.
First of all, alcohol enters into your milk and leaves your milk in the same way it enters and leaves your bloodstream. Pumping will not do anything to speed up this process, and there is no need to get rid of your milk while you are drinking alcohol. Once the alcohol is out of your system, it is out of your milk.
Secondly, drinking while breastfeeding is safe when done in moderation. I have written about this before and you can find more here. Unlike pregnancy, very little alcohol reaches your baby through breastmilk. Now you don’t want to be falling down drunk and trying to take care of a baby, but that is obvious for reasons unrelated to breastfeeding. The much bigger risk to drinking a lot while breastfeeding would be the inability to take care of your baby.
The official recommendations on drinking alcohol and breastfeeding
The AAP says that alcohol use while breastfeeding is usually compatible.
Dr. Jack Newman in his handout “More Breastfeeding Myths” has said:
Reasonable alcohol intake should not be discouraged at all. As is the case with most drugs, very little alcohol comes out in the milk. The mother can take some alcohol and continue breastfeeding as she normally does. Prohibiting alcohol is another way we make life unnecessarily restrictive for nursing mothers.
The La Leche League’s recommendation as taken from their book – The Womanly Art Of Breastfeeding:
The effects of alcohol on the breastfeeding baby are directly related to the amount the mother ingests. When the breastfeeding mother drinks occasionally or limits her consumption to one drink or less per day, the amount of alcohol her baby receives has not been proven to be harmful.
Thomas W. Hale, R.Ph. Ph.D. “mothers who ingest alcohol in moderate amounts can generally return to breastfeeding as soon as they feel neurologically normal.” A mother’s blood alcohol level must be 300mg/dl before significant side effects are noticed in the infant.
A recent research study found that “the amount of alcohol presented to nursing infants through breast milk is approximately 5–6% of the weight-adjusted maternal dose, and even in a theoretical case of binge drinking, the children would not be subjected to clinically relevant amounts of alcohol.
In conclusion, special recommendations aimed at lactating women are not warranted. Instead, lactating women should simply follow standard recommendations on alcohol consumption.”
So I don’t need to pump and dump?
No, and the term pump and dump is pretty awful. Since we know alcohol leaves your breastmilk as soon as it leaves your bloodstream, the only reason you may want to pump is if you are going to be away from your baby for a long time, and you need to prevent engorgement.
If you are going to miss a feeding you may want to pump during that time to keep your supply going at the same rate, and pumping may be useful if you would like to have pumped milk available to your baby during the time you are away.
You can always prepare by pumping ahead of time, but there is no pumping and dumping needed.
I am not sure where this notion of pumping and dumping came from. It is still passed around among women and recommended to each other. I would love to see this awful term go once and for all!
I have also had doctors recommend I “pump and dump” when I am taking a certain medication, once when I had my eyes dilated, and when I received an MRI. These were all unnecessary. Many medical professionals recommend this because they believe it is not a big deal and want to cover any issues that could arise. Having researched it in each of these instances I found dumping my milk to not be needed.
You can read more about pumping and dumping in these other articles I have written:
https://breastfeedingneeds.com/whats-the-deal-with-breastfeeding-and-medication
https://breastfeedingneeds.com/can-you-drink-alcohol-while-breastfeeding
https://breastfeedingneeds.com/getting-an-mri-with-contrast-while-breastfeeding
I wish I had known this 2 pregnancies ago lol. I can’t believe all of the milk that I wasted by pumping and dumping.
Hi Irion! I know..it’s crazy! Well at least you know now!
Love that I found this!! So helpful!
Great article! However, i still believe that a “pump and dump” is necessary at times. For example, if I come home from a “girl’s night” and feel too tipsy to breastfeed, but need to pump because I’m engorged, I pump that milk and dump it because I know there’s alcohol in my system at that time. You don’t necessarily address that in your article. You mention pumping if you’re going to miss a feeding, but don’t say what to do with the milk. Thanks!
Hi Chelsea, I would do what you are comfortable with. You definitely will need to pump if engorged but that milk could be used another way, some use it in baths or on baby’s skin, and actually the latest research indicates that most alcohol in milk is so minuscule (even if you feel drunk) that it is most likely safe and equaling less than the amount of ethanol in juice. But of course do what you are comfortable with!
This is such a great idea!! I always feel bad about using saved milk on anything other than feeding! Using the pumped (drunk) milk would be so smart!
You can pump it and add little bits to “sober” milk. Then you’re not wasting milk at all.
Pump and dump is also sometimes required after certain medical procedures or while on certain medications. The reason you pump is to maintain your milk supply, but you need to “dump” (not feed the milk to your baby) if it could cause your baby harm.
Hi, this is true but most medication is actually safe and very miniscule in breast milk. I have been told I may want to pump and dump a few times when it was it was not needed. Infant Risk is a good website to check what is considered safe.
Hi, I am about to go back to work two days a week but working 16 hour shift. With two 16 month old toddlers and a 2 month old (I’m only nursing him) I don’t get much sleep so I have a feeling caffeine will be needed to get through these days. Do you think pumping and dumping would be necessary after drinking something with a lot of caffeine such as an energy drink?
Hi Mackenzie, I do not pump and dump anything at all. I drink a lot of caffeine too! Pay attention to see if it affects your baby but if not you are fine to drink caffeine and breastfeed.
It seems to me pumping and dumping is a bit of a fallacy anyway since the baby is so much more efficient at getting the milk than a pump.
Hi,
This post was very informative and great!
I completely agree!
However, I do understand why drinking whilst breastfeeding is not commonly encouraged.
As a healthcare worker, we obviously see many many people and unfortunately telling somebody a “moderate” amount is subjective and has a risk of binge drinking and neglect. As we all know drinking is influential as is, add post partum to it.
Unfortunately not everyone can calculate appropriate amounts, do their research or even hear the rest of the information.
Hence why it is not widely spoken about.
Not discouraging as I am thrilled by your post. Just giving you an insight as to why this happens.
Hi Kath,
Yes, I understand why the advice is given. Thanks!
What are your sources for this research?
Hi Connie, You can find this info online in several places but I have my sources listed in this article where I previously wrote more on this topic. I am planning to update this article soon too and will add sources here as well. Thanks!
YAAASSS!! Finally someone else agrees that the phrase “pump and dump” needs to leave!! It’s kind of a pet peeve of mine, but something I used to fully believe. And how cool is Dr. Jack Newman for noticing that life is often made “unnecessarily restrictive for nursing mothers.” I love that quote. Thanks for the awesome info!
what about cocaine use? i did a few lines over the weekend and have been dumping my milk ever since. are the levels even high in my milk??
Hi,
I really cannot say about cocaine use but I don’t believe the risk would be worth it so I would err on the side of safety. I was referring to “pump and dump” when it comes to alcohol use which has been shown to be very minuscule in breastmilk.
For cocaine it may be more pronounced but this is not something I can speak to in any way. If you are using cocaine and breastfeeding I think that could cause other issues, and I would discuss this with your baby’s Dr. or your OB/GYN.