Mom Liquored Up and Breastfeeding

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Mom Liquored Up and Breastfeeding

Saturday, January 10, 2009

filed under: family

An infant is breastfed by her drunk mother at a bar.

As the debate over whether it's cool to breastfeed in public rages on, one thing is indisputable: Getting tanked while breastfeeding probably isn't cool.

A new mom allegedly brought her seven-week-old daughter to a Connecticut bar and proceeded to breastfeed the baby while getting tanked. Cops say Allanah Earley, 36, of Durham was binge drinking at an unnamed bar Friday and then wandered out into the cold with the infant. Concerned customers immediately called the police.

Police say a drunken Earley ended up at a friend's house, where she continued to drink while breastfeeding. According to police reports her speech was slurred and she could barely stand up.

And what's up with a bar that kept serving the mother?? She admitted that she threw back roughly seven drinks! Richard Kline, a bartender at the famous Blue Room in Burbank, Ca. wonders what she was doing in a bar with a baby in the first place. "Babies aren't allowed in bars." But even so, if infants were allowed to belly up to a bar Kline says he would never serve excess amounts of alcohol to a nursing mother. "I'd cut her off. On the first one."

Hmm, but isn't even ONE too much? We asked momlogic pediatrician Dr. Cara Natterson if it's OK to partake when you're breastfeeding. She says that although the occasional drink is OK for a breastfeeding mom, she recommends the old "pump and dump the next feed," if you start feeling at all tipsy.

There is a product called Milkscreen that solves the problem for those moms who think breast is best, but still like a drink now and again. Each package comes with strips you dip into your milk (a breastalizer, if you will) to determine if it the alcohol content exceeds the safe .03 amount.

While this mom, who is being held on a $10,000 bond, is an extreme case, many of us are guilty of having a little swig during breasting.

What do you think? Is it OK to have a little nip when you're nursing your little nipper? Comment in the momlogic community.

33 comments so far | Post a comment now >>

That is never ever ever okay to do, she should have her child taken away!

- Val

Posted 01/09/09 04:23 PM

I’ve seen it done by many a mom. Not cool.

- Anonymous

Posted 01/09/09 04:34 PM

disgusting picture.

- cheers

Posted 01/09/09 04:36 PM

Good grief! I can’t imagine my want/need for alcohol being stronger than my love and concern for one of my children. I didn’t even drink coffee when I was nursing my daughters.

- ame i.

Posted 01/09/09 05:15 PM

Okay, this lady is an extreme case, however, it is also extreme to say “No, no alcohol whatsoever while nursing”. It was believed in the 50’s that one beer a day would help increase milk production. My grandmother hated beer, but she would hold her nose and drink one in interest of increasing her milk supply. My mother had a glass of wine with dinner every night while nursing me. I had wine, beer or the occasional mixed drink while nursing both of my children. A glass of wine can be calming to the jangled nerves of a new, nursing mother. while in a relaxed state, the letdown reflex happens much easier. Better to be calm after a glass of wine than constantly stressed out about what you “can’t have” while nursing. I was prescribed percocet prior to discharge when I had my second son. I immediately questioned my doctor. He said “Yes, this does pass into breast milk but it will not harm the baby if you follow the dosing instructions.” A percocet will mess you up alot worse than a couple beers or glasses of wine, ya think? Yes, this lady was fifty shades of wrong for what she did and she should be forced to attend classes, for both parenting and addiction treatment, however, this doesn’t mean everyone needs to go to the extremes and say “No no no” while nursing. Women who martyr themselves while nursing baffle me. Anything in moderation (save for illicit narcotics) is okay.

- Anonymous

Posted 01/09/09 05:40 PM

It’s not ok to be so drunk you are not capable of caring for your infant. But since the level of alcohol in breast milk is the same as blood-alcohol levels, you have to consider what is really happening when a mother drinks and breastfeeds. Let’s say you’ve had enough to blow .08. That’s still .08 per cent alcohol, which is a very small amount of alcohol to be ingesting. Less than no-alc beer. Less than fresh orange juice.

- jodine

Posted 01/09/09 05:42 PM

Cutting off at the first one is silly. A mom can slowly nurse a beer or even two across an hour and be perfectly fine. The pump and dump routine is also silly, as are the milkscreen tests. They’re based on outdated fears. Alcohol exits the breastmilk at about the same rate that it exits the blood. As long as mom is “ok to drive” she’s ok to nurse. Baby’s at more of a risk if mom takes an aspirin than if mom nurses while tipsy. (NOT falling over drunk. Drunk nursing is NOT cool.)

- Sara

Posted 01/09/09 06:14 PM

It is NEVER OK to drink at all while nursing. That goes to the baby. Why is it people say women who do not drink while nursing are martyrs? When you choose to have a child that means it is your responsibility and duty as a mom to give that baby the best possible care you can. I do not thinking giving up something like drinking or caffine while pregnant and nursing is asking to much. It is also not that hard. Your baby will thank you for it, and you will rest assured that you don’t have to worry about any problems that could happen if you do drink. I have 2 sons, one 11yrs and one 2yrs and both are extremely healthy. That to me is worth more than a drink. And as for the drugs after having a baby, well I did not take those either. Again the health of my child was more important to me. I believe if people would put their kids first more in this world then we would not have as many problems as we do now. And it all starts at conception.

- Wendi

Posted 01/09/09 07:20 PM

I have a very bad heart that is prone to infection and was ORDERED by my cardiologist to drink a glass of red wine at least once a week while pregnant. Women with iron deficiencies who cannot handle prenatals (some people get seriously sick off them) are asked by their physicians to drink a weekly Guinness, which has more vitamin D and iron in it than milk. Mothers of babies with serious colic are sometimes advised to drink a little bit of red wine in the evening before nursing as it helps to calm the baby as well. What THAT woman did was clearly wrong, and endangering her child. The concept of NO drinking when pregnant is almost singularly American cultural phenomenal, however. It is ultimately a personal choice, with personal reasons behind it. I was seriously judged for drinking my weekly glass of red wine, even through it very well may have kept me and my child alive through my pregnancy. (There really isn’t an alternative for cleaning your blood out during pregnancy) We don’t always know people’s motivations or backrounds. Someone may see me and think I am selfish and thinking of myself and not my child when I order a zinfandel, when in fact I loathe red wine (and all alcoholic drinks) and choked that glass down in the INTEREST of my baby. ON doctor’s orders. Sometimes it IS okay.

- Melissa

Posted 01/09/09 07:42 PM

I believe it started at conception for you too, Wendi. Do the world a favor and stop breeding. You’re a holier than thou moron.

- angrymom

Posted 01/09/09 08:33 PM

angrymom— You can think that if you would like about me, however you are very wrong. I am just a mom who will always put their children first. And as a mom one would think YOU would understand, however it would seem that is incorrect. I can not believe that a MOM would be as angry as you are just knowing that someone else is caring for the kids that they brought into this world. I do not believe that I am wrong in thinking that it is my JOB to make sure that my kids are healthy and happy.

- Wendi

Posted 01/09/09 09:13 PM

What a skag!

- Anonymous

Posted 01/09/09 09:26 PM

In the mid 1970’s I was young, healthy and my husband and I were expecting our daughter. I cut out caffeine, I took no drugs, including aspirin, I went sodium free (as much as possible), ingested no white sugar or refined flour and did everything I could to insure a healthy, normal child. The last week of my pregnancy (at 9 1/2 months) and while I was breastfeeding, my doctor “prescribed” six ounces of beer a day, after my evening meal, to help with milk production. Boy howdy did it work. I could have fed sextuplets!

- Brooke's Mom

Posted 01/09/09 10:46 PM

I would have a small glass of white every now and then when I was nursing my daughter. Grant it, by this time she was well over a yr old and this was at night after she was asleep. By the time I nursed her again it would be the next morning. I think it’s fine, but the mother swigging to unconsiousness with a tiny baby at the breast at the bar for cripes sakes is disgusting.

- michelle

Posted 01/10/09 11:01 AM

If you have a drink or two, pump and dump and wait 24 hours before nursing (it takes 24 hours for it to be completely out of your system-simple biology!) Now to act like this woman is horrible. I hope they take the child away until she has undergone some treatment and has gotten a handle on her drinking!

- Anonymous

Posted 01/10/09 03:07 PM

The baby was in more danger from being dropped or neglected by a drunk caregiver (mom in this case) than from the alcohol in the breastmilk.

- Anonymous

Posted 01/10/09 03:49 PM

Actually the pumping and dumping is not really that effective. There are lots of website that talk about how breastmilk is not stagnent once it’s made and your milk sobers up as you do. Kellymom.com is one of them. Generally, any more than two drinks and you should wait an hour per drink.

- jessica

Posted 01/10/09 03:55 PM

Sorry, but as the mother of a child with special needs for no other reason than I caught a virus during my pregnancy I do NOT see a reason why women should go chasing trouble for their kids. Surely even our self serving society can put away the alcohol while pregnant and nursing??? Yes, it may be a silly and outdated idea but really what is the harm in being a little cautious? I see parents every day doing things I would never do in a million years with either of my children (my son is not disabled) because I was given the gift of knowing one day I would lose my child and to be careful and appreciative of our time. And to the person that posted “if the mother is ok to drive she is ok to nurse” well you must have never lost anyone to a drunk driver. As far as I’m concerned even one drink is too much when you are driving.

- Gilly

Posted 01/10/09 05:07 PM

I agree with Gilly completly! Whats the point in risking it? Every mother who just HAS to have a drink when their pregnant is putting their child as risk for their own selfish needs! Really, its 9 months out of your life, you really cant wait to get drunk. Uh thats called a LUSH! And if you want to drink so badly when your breastfeeding then pump before you drink, for your babies sake! And yeah pumping and dumping IS effective! Jessica- you really think the alcohol just disapears from your breastmilk? It doesnt just disapear from your body-you pee and sweat it out! So to get rid of it from your beasts-you pump it out! Thats why people who get too intoxicated need their stomache pumped, that doctor doesnt say “oh lets just have them wait it out, it’ll disapear eventually”. It’s POISON people, your feeding you babies poison little bits at a time! Some people should not be allowed to procreate! Your all stupid

- Miranda

Posted 01/11/09 01:32 PM

You want to hear messed up? This girl I know that I have known forever had told me about a week ago that she was 1 1/2 weeks late and thought she might be pregnant. Well, Sat. night she shows up at my house and the first thing she does is ask me if I have any vodka! I had already hidden it thank goodness. So she swigged the tiny bit of white wine I had. And I asked what if you’re preggo? She’s was like well, I don’t know if I am yet. Needless to say, I lost what little respect I had left for her right then.

- ashley

Posted 01/12/09 08:15 AM