After smoking marijuana So once in their bodies, THC may stay there longer. Also, marijuana stays in your body longer than alcohol — which is not stored in fat — does, so pumping and dumping isn’t effective. All this leads to recommendations that you not smoke or otherwise use marijuana while breastfeeding.

Drugs. If you use amphetamines, ecstasy, cocaine or heroin, you should not breastfeed for 24 hours after use. If you smoke cannabis or tobacco you should breastfeed your baby before you smoke, and smoke outside and away from the baby. Do not have your baby in the same room as the smoke.

If you continue to smoke when you are breastfeeding, wait to have a cigarette until after you have completed a feeding. You might be advised to wait at least three to four hours before breastfeeding again–even if it means that you have to pump and dump (where you express and discard some breastmilk).

“Pumping and Dumping” Is Not Necessary Many women have been advised to “pump and dump” their breast milk after consuming alcohol. This is completely unnecessary for keeping your baby safe.

Generally, moderate alcohol consumption by a breastfeeding mother (up to 1 standard drink per day) is not known to be harmful to the infant, especially if the mother waits at least 2 hours after a single drink before nursing.

No. If you have one alcoholic drink and wait four hours to feed your baby, you won’t need to pump and dump. And if engorgement and milk supply are not an issue, you can just wait for the liquor to metabolize naturally. Alcohol doesn’t stay in breast milk, and pumping and dumping doesn’t eliminate it from your system.

An alert is triggered by a concentration of alcohol in the breast milk greater than 0.02%. “There is no way to convert that alcohol percentage into a number of drinks,” said Jumonville. “It is dependent on so many factors, including body weight, the type of alcohol consumed, and food intake.”

There is no need to pump & dump milk after drinking alcohol, other than for mom’s comfort — pumping & dumping does not speed the elimination of alcohol from the milk. If you’re away from your baby, try to pump as often as baby usually nurses (this is to maintain milk supply, not because of the alcohol).

Because alcohol does pass through breast milk to a baby, The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests avoiding habitual use of alcohol. Alcohol is metabolized in about 1 to 3 hours, so to be safe, wait about 2 hours after one drink (or 2 hours for each drink consumed) before you nurse your baby.

If you are doing to enjoy a drink, the AAP recommends having it just after you nurse (or pump) and wait at least two hours per drink before your next nursing or pumping session. “That way, the body has as much time as possible to rid itself of the alcohol before the next feeding,” it says.

Adult metabolism of alcohol is approximately 1 oz of pure ethanol in 3 hours, so mothers who ingest alcohol in moderate amounts can generally return to breastfeeding as soon as they feel neurologically normal. A good rule is 2 hours for each drink consumed. Chronic or heavy consumers of alcohol should not breastfeed.”

Drink alcohol (yes, really) Go for it, but it’s a good idea to wait until after you and your baby have been checked over and you’ve tried breastfeeding for the first time. Even then, it’s recommended you keep the celebration to one small glass.

Because your body still has high levels of relaxin — the hormone that your body built up during pregnancy to soften cartilage and prepare your body for labor — you should wait at least two to four weeks after delivery before doing any kind of high-impact or strenuous exercise.

Many medical practitioners advise waiting until after your first postpartum checkup (usually six weeks after delivery) to resume an exercise program. During the first six weeks, you can begin walking to increase circulation and get some general exercise.

Help your perineum heal. Try warm sitz baths for 20 minutes a few times a day to ease pain. Aim to avoid long periods of standing or sitting, and sleep on your side.

While there’s no required waiting period before you can have sex again, many health care providers recommend waiting to have sex until four to six weeks after delivery, regardless of the delivery method. The risk of having a complication after delivery is highest during the first two weeks after delivery.