“I drink wine while nursing” – Bad Mom Confession
“I drink wine while nursing” – Bad Mom Confession
Dec 13This week, a nursing mom bends the rules in more ways than one.
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Luella writes:
“They” say you can have one glass of wine while nursing. Some even recommend it. So this evening while enjoying my sacred glass whilst nursing I really enjoyed that final sip.
Then I remembered that there was just a little bit more left in the bottle chilling in the fridge.
The big question was how to get it without disturbing my almost sleeping 3-month-old daughter. It did not take long to formulate a plan: I paused my 5-year-old son’s favorite TV show and asked him to please go and get the bottle out of the fridge for me and then I would turn his show back on.
Somehow the alcohol is even better when served by a child – and I said “please.”
I see it as a win-win: he got to watch his show, I got my wine and she’ll sleep a little better.
I’m guilty of forcing my son to help me get a little buzzed and having just a little more than the supposedly recommended allowance of wine. The truly bad part is I don’t even feel that guilty about it.
I love your blog and thought you’d get a kick out of the bad parenting that can be done as they get older and multiply.
Dear Luella,
thank you for your kind words. Your enchanting letter raises a number of issues, which we should address in order.
First, alcohol while pregnant/nursing. Halleluiah! A non-neurotic nursing mom! You are drinking responsibly, within Doctor’s recommendations and without a trace of guilt. I applaud you. Plus, your baby must sleep like a log – I know C did whenever I had a beer before/while nursing.
Next, getting the wine. You used a textbook technique for teaching your eldest the laws of the market: if he supplied you with wine you would satisfy his demand for cartoons. Perfect. Bonus points for adding a lesson in manners with the “please” and “thank you.”
Finally, kudos for a perfectly orchestrated lesson in synergy. You will be a happier, more relaxed, better sleeping mom thanks to that extra sip. Your boy has learned a lesson in how the marketplace works, and knowing how to bring wine will really help him with the ladies later on. And your angelic little one will come to no harm, and will benefit from a happy mom and a polite brother. This is the wine trifecta.
Pour yourself a nice cold one.
You’re forgiven.
M
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Confessions may be edited for length (and grammar and spelling, because I’m a stickler.) All real names will be changed for Victorian-era pseudonyms, to make everyone sound classier.
While I do not necessarily encourage repeating any of the behaviours confessed, I will not blame anybody who sees them as “tips” rather than no-nos.
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Fantastic! I have, on numerous occasions while not pregnant/breastfeeding when I did my fair share of drinking, would round up my daughter to get a beer for me. She always thought it was a fun game:
“Honey, go in the fridge and get mommy a beer”
“YYYYAAAAAYYYY” *runs away to the kitchen screaming*
*Happy, content mama*
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ofthesea Reply:
December 14th, 2010 at 8:40 am
Yeah, a friend’s boy actually gets upset if he is not the one to open everyone’s beer can!
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A friend of mine was sneezing at my Christmas party one year because she was allergic to our cats. Someone kindly offered her allergy medicine. While holding her (second) full glass of wine she politely refused the allergy medicine “due to the fact that she had to breast feed her baby daughter.”
He looked disapprovingly at her…..so we kicked him out.
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ofthesea Reply:
December 13th, 2010 at 7:17 pm
Oooh, that’s a fun future ostrich article: wine vs medicine traces in breast milk.
Anyone who disapproves of a pregnant/nursing lady should be summarily kicked out of the premises. Well done!
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Joslyn Reply:
December 15th, 2010 at 12:30 pm
You should have educated him first! Antihistamines = a decrease in milk production. Dark beers and some wines = an increase in milk production! Pull that out of your arsenal when someone is a jerk!
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ofthesea Reply:
December 15th, 2010 at 4:00 pm
I am in love.
Do you want to be part of our research team? No money, but fun perks!
Go Luella! I’m guilty of the same thing. The awesome news is that at Target they have little strips that you dip into your milk if you pump and it will tell you if the alcohol level is present and if it is too high. I have a box on top of my fridge. I can honestly say that two glasses of wine never even set the things off. You’re just fine!
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ofthesea Reply:
December 13th, 2010 at 2:24 pm
Strips for testing milk – a bit ostrichy
Knowing that 2 glasses don’t even register – PRICELESS! :D
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Joslyn Reply:
December 15th, 2010 at 12:29 pm
Ostrichy, or redneck?
I see it as a liberation for women everywhere – we are amazing! We make milk to feed our little children with! AND we know our alcohol limits due to testing and research! (What happens when I drink 4 UV Blue lemonades? Now I know!)
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ofthesea Reply:
December 15th, 2010 at 3:59 pm
Thank the Flying Spaghetti Monster I had finished my iced mocha before I read this comment, because *SNORT!*
The Wine Trifecta.
Brilliant.
My great weakness was dessert wines. A nice moscato, a tawny port with some chocolate?
CDG recently posted At A Terminological Loss
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ofthesea Reply:
December 13th, 2010 at 2:22 pm
I’m not that picky. I’ll drink anything but communion wine!
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I am so so glad to see a non-neurotic mother for a change. My kids slept like logs after I had a night out on the town. Didn’t hurt them one bit and relaxing is healthy for mama and baby!
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ofthesea Reply:
December 13th, 2010 at 6:32 am
Yeah! The nursing life is hard enough without adding Prohibition to it!
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New Bad Mom Post:”I drink wine while nursing” – Bad Mom Confession. Read it now! http://1000reasonsimabadmom.com/i-drink-...
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