[Sca-cooks] Nursing and drugs was-Re: Blood donors

[Tara Sersen Boroson]

Mothering magazine (in my mind, the *only* parenting magazine worth 
reading,) did an article on different drugs and breastfeeding a few 
months ago.  One of the important points it made was that different 
substances concentrate in different ways in breastmilk, because 
breastmilk is primarily fat.  Some things will end up in breastmilk in 
higher concentrations than in your blood, other things will be barely 
detectable.  For instance, with alcohol, your BAL needs to be something 
like 0.3 before it starts to have a physiological effect on the baby. 
 Personally, I'd be under the table by then.  I haven't drinken like 
*that* since college.  A greater effect of alcohol is to diminish milk 
supply for an hour or so after drinking.  Personally, I was always an 
absolute fountain, so I never saw a difference.  I could spring a leak 
in the middle of a glass of beer no less than at any other time.  On the 
other hand, as I recall (I lent out the issue, so I can't reference it,) 
cold and sinus medicine concentrates very much and has a big effect on 
the baby.  For that reason, I have avoided these since my daughter, 
Talia, was born.  On the occasion that a sinus headache was keeping me 
from sleeping (twice in 17 months now, I think,) I waited until she was 
asleep to take a half-dose of medicine.

As for other things crossing into breastmilk, Talia had problems with 
milk, broccoli/cabbage/cauliflower and asparagus in my diet.  All 
sensitivities started at about three weeks old, with severe stomach pain 
and hours of screaming every night.  The milk sensitivity went away at 
about three or four months, the veggie sensitivity lasted until 
something like eleven months.  She was sensitive enough that I couldn't 
eat a cookie that had a bit of butter in it.  I was truely on a CF diet. 
 No problems with spices or garlic or anything like that - in fact, she 
now loves Indian, Thai and Mexican food.

By the way, Hi!  I'm back!  I had to bail because of e-mail overload a 
while back, but I've decided to give it a whirl again.  I missed you guys :)

-Magdalena vander Brugghe