Beer, breast feeding, and folklore

Mennella, Julie A.; Beauchamp, Gary K.

doi:10.1002/dev.420260804

Cited by 123 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 17 publications

(14 reference statements)

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“…5,8,9,21 Seven of the infants were fed the control milk on the first day and the alcohol-flavored milk on second test day; the order was reversed for the remaining infants. There were no significant effects of order of presentation on any of the variables tested.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Contrary to popular beliefs, alcohol is not stored in breast milk, but peaks ϳ30 minutes to 1 hour after the cessation of drinking and decreases thereafter, much like that found in maternal plasma. 5,8,9,21 As advocates of breastfeeding, we emphasize the many advantages to both the mother and the infant and encourage health professionals to inform mothers of the scientific information, albeit limited, on the transfer of alcohol to breast milk and its effects on their infant. …”

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confidence: 99%

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Effects of Exposure to Alcohol in Mother's Milk on Infant Sleep

Mennella

Gerrish

1998

Pediatrics

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ABSTRACT.Objective. To test the hypothesis that exposure to alcohol in breast milk affects infants' sleep and activity levels in the short term.Methods. Thirteen lactating women and their infants were tested on 2 days, separated by an interval of 1 week. On each testing day, the mother expressed 100 mL of milk, while a small, computerized movement detector called an actigraph was placed on the infant's left leg to monitor sleep and activity patterning. After the actigraph had been in place for ϳ15 minutes, the infants ingested their mother's breast milk flavored with alcohol (32 mg) on one testing day and breast milk alone on the other. The infants' behaviors were monitored for the next 3.5 hours.Results. The infants spent significantly less time sleeping during the 3.5 hours after consuming the alcohol-flavored milk (78.2 minutes compared with 56.8 minutes after feeding alcohol in breast milk). This reduction was apparently attributable to a shortening in the longest sleeping bout (34.5 compared with 56.7 minutes for sleeping after breast milk alone) and the amount of time spent in active sleep (25.8 minutes compared with 44.2 minutes after breast milk alone); the decrease in active sleep was observed in all but 2 of the 13 infants tested.Conclusions. Although the mechanisms underlying the reduction in sleep remain to be elucidated, this study shows that short-term exposure to small amounts of alcohol in breast milk produces distinctive changes in the infant's sleep-wake patterning. Pediatrics 1998;101(5). URL: http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/101/5/e2; alcohol, lactation, sleep, activity, development, infant behavior. ABBREVIATION. NS, not significant. T he notion that infants can be influenced by components in their mothers' breast milk has a rich, long history.1 Physicians in the 18th century often would treat the infants' ailments by prescribing certain diets to the mother or wet nurse. 2 That such practices continue in more modern times is evident in the medical lore that recommends that nursing mothers drink an occasional alcoholic beverage, preferably before the evening feeding, to alleviate and sedate their fussy infants. 3,4 No experimental evidence supports this recommendation, although a previous study on the effects of maternal alcohol consumption on the feeding behaviors of breastfed infants reported that the infants' patterning of sleeping, as determined from logs completed by mothers, indeed was altered in the short term. 5Despite this lore, the question of whether occasional exposure to alcohol in breast milk can affect the infant continues to generate much speculation in the medical community.6,7 Because alcohol is excreted to a limited extent in breast milk, 5,8,9 occasional exposure often is considered insignificant, 8,10 except in such rare cases of intoxication when the mothers of breastfeeding infants drank quite heavily 11,12 or when infants were inadvertently fed large amounts of alcohol in a bottle. 13 Moreover, an epidemiologic study 14 found no significant difference in the ...

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Exposure to Alcohol in Mother's Milk on Infant Sleep

Mennella

Gerrish

1998

Pediatrics

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“…[24][25][26] Factors that influence the blood alcohol concentration of the mother include body weight, amount of adipose tissue, stomach contents at the time of alcohol ingestion, rate at which alcohol beverages are consumed, and the amount and strength of alcohol in the drink (evidence level-NHMRC V, expert authority). 27 Ho and colleagues (evidence level-NHMRC V, experimental) developed a nomogram (Table 2) to guide lactating women who drink alcohol on how to avoid exposure of their infant to ethanol through breast milk.…”

Section: Maternal Blood Alcohol Concentrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alcohol and lactation: A systematic review

Giglia

Binns

2006

Nutrition & Dietetics

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The aim of the present paper is to critically review the current literature on the effect of alcohol intake during lactation on the hormonal control of lactogenesis; breast milk and infant blood alcohol concentration; and on the breastfeeding infant. The databases PubMed, CINAHL, Proquest Health and Medical Complete, ScienceDirect and ISI Web of Knowledge were searched for articles published between 1990 and 2005. We found limited research investigating the effect of alcohol intake on the infants of lactating women, with most being conducted using animal models. Results consistently show a decrease in lactational performance in both animal and human studies of alcohol intake and breastfeeding. Alcohol intake by lactating mothers in amounts recommended as 'safe' for nonlactating women may have a negative effect on infant development and behaviour. Clear guidelines for alcohol consumption are required for lactating women and health professionals to guide breastfeeding mothers to make educated choices regarding alcohol intake during this critical period of infant development.

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“…These transmitted flavors include garlic, carrot, mint, vanilla, bleu cheese, alcohol, and tobacco. [93][94][95][96][97] One-day-old infants of mothers who consumed anise-flavored beverages or foods containing garlic during pregnancy displayed less-negative facial expressions when exposed to the odors of anise and garlic, respectively. Prenatal taste experiences dictate later preferences.…”

Section: (See Ref 92 For Review)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Summary of the Presentations at the Conference on Preventing Childhood Obesity, December 8, 2003

et al. 2004

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ABSTRACT. Objective. Because of the rising rates of childhood obesity, we set out to determine what is known about its causes and what could be done to prevent additional increases.Methodology. A meeting was convened of experts in areas that bear on prevention of obesity development during intrauterine life, infancy, and very early childhood. They presented recent data and their interpretations of the stage of our current knowledge in related areas. They also proposed possible useful interventions and future directions for research.Findings. The speakers' talks indicated that (1) breastfeeding as currently practiced seems to be significantly (albeit weakly) protective against obesity and should be encouraged as the preferred method of feeding infants for as long a duration as practical during the first year of life; (2) infant-feeding practices are changing in a way that may predispose to obesity (eg, soda and french fries are being fed to infants as young as 7 months of age), possibly altering taste preferences for foods and beverages that are energy dense and nutrient poor; (3) although little is known about parenting styles (eg, authoritative versus permissive), parenting style is likely to be a fruitful area of current research into childhood obesity etiology; and (4) the pattern of weight changes in the first few years of life may contribute to later risk of obesity.Conclusions. Children's obesity will continue to be a growing problem unless we improve understanding of the key factors likely to be operative during intrauterine life, infancy, and very early childhood, identify those in whom intervention would have the greatest effect, design and evaluate preventive interventions, and promote those that are successful.

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Beer, breast feeding, and folklore

Cited by 123 publications

References 17 publications

Effects of Exposure to Alcohol in Mother's Milk on Infant Sleep

Effects of Exposure to Alcohol in Mother's Milk on Infant Sleep

Alcohol and lactation: A systematic review

Summary of the Presentations at the Conference on Preventing Childhood Obesity, December 8, 2003

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