I’m prepared to be flamed today, my friends. I won’t even feel bad about it. So flame away, if you must, but know that I have done my research – I’ve gone to the source and used my common sense and I stand by my actions.
That said, I was a little surprised (and disappointed, frankly) by the results of testing Milkscreen – the new drugstore test for alcohol in breastmilk. I know, I know. I shouldn’t be nursing if there’s even a question. But let’s be honest: I’d been sober for 10 months; plus the first few of my daughter’s life. I deserve a margarita (or two) or a glass of wine with dinner.
Milkscreen comes with 3 test strips per box. Each strip is about 3 inches long and has a little ‘pad’ on the end, which is where the milk goes. Wait two minutes, and the pad turns a shade of grayish purple if there is alcohol found in your milk. There are ‘shades of gray’ though, and they were a little hard to discern. Maria tested the first strip after a particularly strong homemade margarita (on a lovely Thursday afternoon by the pool . . . ) and sure enough, it turned gray. But whether it was above or below the ‘safe’ line was very hard to tell – it didn’t really match any of the colors on the grading scale. 
So anyway. I thought I’d test the box of Milkscreen strips to see where my limit really is – and how many I can have before the strip tells me “Bad idea, Andi.”
Test 1
This test involved a beer around 5:30 pm (Bud Light probably), then dinner around 6:30, and I nursed at 7:30. I wanted to see if that one beer had metabolized, and set a minimum for tests to follow.
Unfortunately, I actually had to start nursing before I could test, so my milk would let down. But I felt pretty confident about the results, so went ahead with it.
I just dropped two drops of milk on the pad, and waited two minutes (while finishing nursing, of course). Sure enough, green light. The pad didn’t change colors even the slightest (except to look wet).
Test 2
This test involved one beer around 5:00 pm, then a glass of wine (regular size, pinot grigio) with my dinner at 6:15. I waited again until 7:30 to nurse (Piper’s bedtime). This time, I nursed until my milk let down, then took her off until the test results showed up (which resulted in a virtual milk sprinkler, but worth it for testing purposes).
After two minutes, the test turned a shade of gray but it was definitely an ambiguous shade of gray; negligible at best. After comparing it to the shades of gray insert, we decided it was definitely on the safe side so I finished nursing.
Test 3
I think you can see where this is heading, but you might be surprised. I was planning to just go all out (it was my birthday weekend and festivities were planned, sitters lined up) and test when I got home. So after a particularly rowdy (35+ friends) birthday celebration happy hour that led into a ‘couple more’ with my dad and friends, I was dropped off at home around 11 pm. And I promptly fell asleep without even pumping. Ouch.
When I woke up around 7:30, Adam had already given the baby a bottle that morning. I desperately needed to relieve the pressure, so I pumped at about 8:00 am. Just for fun, I thought I’d test my ‘morning after milk’ to see if the hangover I was feeling was coming through in my milk. I dipped the strip in my pumped milk, and the pad promptly turned black.
Oi. (Guilt settles in.) It wasn’t a shade of gray; it wasn’t negligible or ambiguous. It was black. Dark, dark, grayish purplish black. Nine hours after having my last Bud Light (with a few Captain-Diets leading up to that), it was still black. I dumped all that milk, of course, and was very happy to have had the Milkscreen.
Many people would’ve known better that morning without needing the test strips. But I don’t really get hangovers. I sometimes have a mild headache, but I don’t feel the queasy, woozy hangovers that my friends often have. So I didn’t know that so much alcohol was still in my body, even after a good night’s sleep and 9 full hours. Milkscreen gave me that knowledge, and I feel better for it. There aren’t many nights when I would even have the opportunity to drink like that (um, I can think of only 3 in the past 5 months), but I am so glad to know not to nurse the morning after.
Milkscreen is made by UpSpring Baby and is available at Walgreens and now, Target. It’s also available on the UpSpring website. There are two pack sizes – a 3-pack for $5.99 or a 20-pack for $19.99.
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I don’t recommend drinking and
nursing, but I do recommend drinking, and nursing. Milkscreen is not intended to make us feel guilty, but to allow breastfeeding mothers to enjoy that beer or glass of wine without the guilt. If we know our bodies and our limits, we’re better able to enjoy ourselves while breastfeeding without feeling inhibited or restricted. That knowledge is freedom.
About the author: One day, Andi hopes to teach the men in her life that they, too, can pick things up and put them away after they’ve used them. Read more from this author.Related Reviews:
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Wow, that’s a long time for alcohol to still be in your system but I guess it makes sense. I think it’s perfectly reasonable to have a drink now and then, and it sounds like you’re being very safe and careful with the whole drinking/nursing issue. Pretty cool that there’s a product out there that can help you be sure.
Why do you think people are going to flame you? Because you drink alcohol and nurse? Or because you use Milkscreen?
Thank you for the review. It is interesting to see how the thing works.
However, I wonder what they use to determine “safe” levels.
I don’t know that I would rely on the research listed on Milkscreen’s Web site. I’m sure they picked and chose the studies that would make their product seem necessary.
If you look at LLL’s FAQ on alcohol (http://www.llli.org/FAQ/alcohol.html), there are a few things of interest:
1) “Maternal blood alcohol levels must attain 300 mg/dl before significant side effects are reported in the infant. ” That number didn’t really mean anything to me, so I looked it up and it turns out that those types of alcohol levels would only be found in chronic alcoholics or someone that has been drinking straight for several days (http://books.google.ca/books?id=mxd-EWYxY1oC&pg=PA44&lpg=PA44&dq=300+mg/dl+BAC&source=bl&ots=666QlxC4qe&sig=-Nv0E3UDaBwa4AYCnr09ztiGpxY&hl=en&ei=xkkCSuePCZKgM9-k6doH&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2).
That doesn’t mean that you hadn’t had too much to drink that one night and perhaps the test is right and you shouldn’t have been nursing. But would you have stepped behind the wheel of a car? Do you have a breathalyzer at home to blow in before you drive if you’ve been drinking the night before?
2) The thing that breastfeeding moms should be more worried about perhaps is the effect that drinking too much has on their milk supply, letdown and intake levels by the baby. If a woman drinks regularly, even moderate amounts, and her baby is having trouble gaining weight, then she might want to consider stopping for a while.
For me personally, I do breastfeed and I do drink. But in the more than 4 years now that I have been nursing, there is only one night that I ever had more than 2 drinks and that was a total of maybe 3 drinks or a maximum of 4. I had those drinks early in the evening (between 5pm and 7pm), knowing that I wouldn’t be home until around 2am. I think even if I did nurse when I got home and even if the alcohol levels were a little higher than perhaps ideal, I don’t think it would have long lasting detrimental effects on my child. If I did it every night, perhaps. But once in 4 years…not the end of the world.
Thanks for the comment, Annie! I actually expected backlash for the drinking-nursing thing – so many moms I’ve talked to are teetotalers when it comes to alcohol. I figure they’re just biting their tongues.
Ah well, I’ll keep enjoying my beer and nursing :)
I’m with Annie. There is a CONSIDERABLE amount of research to suggest that a glass of wine with dinner every night is not going to impact your baby’s health. A couple of glasses on a Friday night isn’t going to have an impact on baby either.
What I try to remind moms in my classes is that regular and excessive consumption of a depressant (which alcohol is) will decrease milk production levels and slow milk flow. That just makes good sense. Just as excessive consumption of caffeine will, as a diuretic, decrease milk volume.
I think that we need to use more common sense and less “technology” to parent our babies in the best and safest fashion.
Thanks for the article. I hope you enjoyed your evening at least. ;o)
I wonder how different the morning results would have been if you’d pumped some of the accumulated milk before bed. I guess it makes sense that as your body metabolizes the alcohol, it accumulates in the milk, so there would probably be way more there the next day than during the festivities. Interesting info!
I’m one of those “teetotaling” nursing moms you speak of, but that’s mainly because I’ve never been a big drinker. I certainly don’t have a problem with women who drink and nurse responsibly, and I can’t imagine who would, so I sure hope you don’t get any backlash for this! But then, people get het up about the most ridiculous things all the time, so you never know. Thank you for the info.
As Americans we can be so uptight, im sure Italians don’t second guess wine with their dinner…..honestly i enjoy a glass of wine or beer! I sure hope no one gives you any negativity for being honest. Good research Andi!
@Diane
“Pumping and dumping” the milk doesn’t rid your body of the alcohol. It just leaves your system with time, the same way it leaves your blood stream with time.
Pumping and dumping can help for relieving pressure and maintaining supply if the mom is engorged, but it doesn’t get rid of the alcohol.
This is super interesting! I’ve used Milk Screen with pretty predictable results. I used them when drinking, but we bottle fed expressed breast milk and I used the strips to determine if I should pump and dump or pump and freeze.
Anyhow, your morning-after results make me question the validity of the results. I think it’s pretty well documented that alcohol is metabolized in breastmilk the same as it is in your blood. I can’t imagine what kind of weird things would be happening with your body to not metabolize even a decent night of debauchery over the course of 9 hours, so I wonder if the strips are as accurate as I thought.
Anyhow, thanks for the review. The girls sleep for 8-9 hours straight at night so I don’t feel bad drinking after their last night nursing. I tend to go by how I feel as far as nursing or pumping and freezing in any case. I do like having the Milk Screen as a sanity check though.
I think Andi inherited super magical drinking powers.
I don’t normally drink mainly because I don’t enjoy the tastes of beer or wine. I usually just let my husband drink, and I drive. When I do drink, I don’t usually drink to more than a little buzz, but it would be nice to know when it is safe to nurse my little one.
This is a great product and post. This isn’t even something I have thought about and I am breastfeeding. Yes I know that’s bad! I mean it’s not like I drink often, but I don’t get hangovers, but I am breastfeeding so I have to be aware. Thanks for the post.
[...] said as much when I commented on a review of the Milk Screen product that allows you to measure whether you have too much alcohol in your breast milk or not. I said: [...]
wow this is a great review… I def. need to buy this!