12/29/2025
Thinking of drinking?
Breastfeeding families often receive mixed advice about alcohol use. While alcohol during pregnancy is known to be harmful, the risks during breastfeeding are less clear. When someone drinks occasionally or limits their consumption to one drink or less per day, the amount of alcohol baby receives has not been proven to be harmful.
If you decide to partake in a celebratory drink, it's important to know that alcohol leaves breastmilk as it leaves the bloodstream. It isn't “trapped” in milk. As the nursing parent’s blood alcohol level falls, alcohol naturally moves out of your breastmilk. Because of this, pumping and dumping does not remove alcohol from milk. Likewise, drinking water, resting, or having coffee does not speed up how quickly alcohol is eliminated from the body. For these reasons, the old advice to “pump and dump” is no longer considered evidence-based.
You can find more information on alcohol and breastfeeding on our website.
[Image Description] Photo featuring a champagne bottle and flutes surrounded by confetti, a tinsel star, and curled ribbon. Text overlaid reads, "Do I need to pump and dump? Alcohol is present in breastmilk at the same levels as it is present in the nursing parent's blood. As alcohol leaves the bloodstream, it also leaves breastmilk, so there is rarely a need to pump and dump." The La Leche League USA logo is below the text.
