swaying while breastfeeding

[Mochagirl]

My ds3 is 22 months and only nurses once a day - mostly a comfort thing to help him go to sleep at bedtime. Should I take all the same precautions as moms who nurse more frequently regarding cranberry and baby aspirin?

[atomic sagebrush]

My ds3 is 22 months and only nurses once a day - mostly a comfort thing to help him go to sleep at bedtime. Should I take all the same precautions as moms who nurse more frequently regarding cranberry and baby aspirin?

No, but I would still be a little leery of when you take the supps - taking them in the morning would help minimize any potential amount of it coming out in your milk. You don't need to pump and dump, they will leave your milk as your body metabolizes them.

[Mochagirl]

Excellent - thanks. I've been taking one at lunch and one at bedtime, but maybe I'll move the lunch one to earlier in the day.

[zanacal]

I hadn't realised this. My DS3 is 18 months and only feeding once before bed most days (occasionally first thing in the morning). Would you say aspirin is ok in these circumstances?

K x

[atomic sagebrush]

I hadn't realised this. My DS3 is 18 months and only feeding once before bed most days (occasionally first thing in the morning). Would you say aspirin is ok in these circumstances?

K x

Probably. I myself have taken baby aspirin a few times while nursing for various reasons. However, aspirin is a little more concerning to me than cran is because in addition to the potential for bleeding, there's also Reye's Syndrome. 4-8% of the amount you take is excreted into your breastmilk (according to WHO) IF you breastfeed right away and it peaks 3 hours after you take it. So if your child is ill or even if you think he/she may be getting sick, stop taking the aspirin right away and don't take it until they are 100% better, because in children, taking aspirin when ill can cause Reye's Syndrome.

You also should not ever exceed the dosage of one baby aspirin a day, and feel free to take it less often - people are still getting good results for acidity taking the aspirin even as little as once or twice a week.

The very best strategy is probably to breastfeed and then IMMEDIATELY take your supps right afterwards, but I don't necessarily think that's the best idea for moms who nurse once before bed simply because if you do that, you rob yourself of the option of nursing a fussy baby back to sleep; it's prob. best for them to take supps first thing in the morning and then wait to nurse until nighttime. Zana, since you sometimes nurse first thing in the morning, I would just nurse and then take my supps right afterwards.

Just so we have it handy, here is the info from Dr. Hale's book regarding aspirin and breastfeeding.

the half life of aspirin is 2.5-7 hours. so in less than 7 hours half of your dose is in your system, and in less than 14 hours, half of half of your dose is in your system.

It peaks in your system in 1-2 hours. So it doesn't enter your system immediately, so take it, breastfeed, and try to wait > 2 hours before breastfeeding again to avoid the peak amount in your system. although in the table it says 1-2 hours for peak, and in the description it says 3 hours til peak. so your mileage may vary.

it is 80-100% bioavailable, which means most of what you take is absorbed by your system, and which means most of what enters breastmilk is absorbed by baby's system as well.

molecular weight is 180, which is low, which means it passes thru the blood/breast barrier pretty easily. (ETA - atomic here. My understanding is that things which pass the blood/breast barrier easily also pass OUT of breastmilk easily too so as your level of aspirin in your blood drops, the level in your milk will drop as well.)

volume of distribution is .015. volume of distribution describes how widely the medication is distributed in the body. Drugs with high volumes of distribution (1-20 liter/kg) are distributed in higher concentrations in remote comparments of the body, and may not stay in the blood. Drugs with high volumes of distribution generally require much longer to clear from the body than drugs with smaller volumes because the medicine is stores elsewhere in the body.

pB is the % of protein binding. If a drug is highly protein bound it cannot exist the plasma compartment. higher % is less likely to enter maternal milk. good protein binding is >90. apirin is 88-93%

adult doseage is listed as 325-900 mg 4 x daily.
Theoretic infant dose is .3 mg/kg/day.

[zanacal]

Hmm, I'm not sure I like the sound of that (but appreciate all the information - thank you!). Am I losing much from my sway by taking neither cranberry or aspirin - is it simply for acidity? Would it help if DH took aspirin?

Thank you!

[atomic sagebrush]

It's only for acidity. I don't think you are losing much by dropping it. The antihistamine + RepHresh combo will do much the same thing and of course there's always our trusty aspartame to fall back on. DH can take aspirin if he likes and that will help.

Just to make this clear, to my knowledge and after researching it, there has never been a case of Reye's due to aspirin coming through in breastmilk, it's a theoretical risk though and so we should be aware of it.

[rainbowflower]

antihistamines can make breastmilk dry up though, can't they?

[atomic sagebrush]

Yes, it dries up some for a few hours and then comes flooding right back again! o.O

[zanacal]

Thank you x