Sleep disturbances after acute exposure to alcohol in mothers’ milk

Abstract

The results of previous research in our laboratory revealed that breast-fed infants experience significantly less active sleep after exposure to alcohol in their mothers' milk than do breast-fed infants not exposed to alcohol. The present study tested the hypothesis that infants would compensate for such reductions if their mothers then refrained from drinking alcohol. To this end, 23 breast-fed infants from 3 to 5 months of age and their mothers were tested on 2 days separated by 1 week. A small, computerized movement detector, an actigraph, was placed on the infants' left ankles to monitor sleep and activity patterning after which they were bottle fed mother's milk alone (control condition) on 1 test day and mother's milk containing 32 mg of ethanol per 100 ml--the average concentration detected in human milk after lactating women drank an acute dose (0.3 g/kg) of alcohol--on the other. The infants' behaviors were monitored for the next 24 h; the first 3.5 h of monitoring on each test day took place at the Monell Center. Consistent with previous findings, infants exhibited significantly less active sleep during the 3.5 h immediately after exposure to alcohol in mothers' milk compared with the control condition; the decrease in active sleep was observed in all but 4 of the infants tested. Compensatory increases in active sleep were then observed in the next 20.5 h, when mothers refrained from drinking alcohol. Although the mechanisms underlying the reduction in sleep remain to be elucidated, these findings demonstrate that short-term exposure to small amounts of alcohol in mothers' milk produces distinctive changes in the infants' sleep-wake patterning.

Alcohol and lactation: A systematic review

“…45 During the first half of the centre 3.5-hour testing session there was no significant difference in the amount of time spent in active sleep. However, during the second half of this session (1.75-3.5 hours) infants exposed to alcohol in the mother' s milk spent less time in active sleep, compared with the control condition.…”

“…7,38,45 The mechanism for this effect on sleep patterning remains to be explained; 7,38,45 however, Mennella and Gerrish 7 propose based on their results and that of others 43,46 slight deficit identified in the motor development of the children exposed to chronic alcohol intake may be a result of continued disruption of active sleep subsequent to regular alcohol intake (evidence level Ioffe and Chernick-NHMRC III-2). Animal model studies and experimental studies in humans suggest that pre-and postnatal experiences with the smell and taste of ethanol can affect later responsiveness to ethanol.…”

“…Mennella and Garcia-Gomez (2001) 45 Study design as previous 7 with testing time extended to 24 hours. During the first half of the centre 3.5-hour testing session there was no significant difference in the amount of time spent in active sleep.…”

The International Society for Developmental Psychobiology 39th Annual Meeting Symposium: Alcohol and Development: Beyond fetal alcohol syndrome

“…Based on this science, it would seem that the recommendation for lactating women to drink a glass of beer or wine shortly before nursing may actually be counterproductive. While mothers may be more relaxed after a drink, their babies will ingest less milk (Mennella and Beauchamp) and infants'sleep will be disrupted in the short term (Mennella & Garcia-Gomez, 2001). Beyond alcohol's teratogenic effects on the fetus and disruptive effects on the lactational process, a growing body of experimental research in animal models suggests that during ethanol exposure, the fetus or young infant can acquire an association between ethanol's orosensory properties and pharmacological consequences, causing the animal subsequently to seek out ethanol Pepino, Abate, Spear, & Molina, 2002).…”

Breastfeeding and Smoking: Short-term Effects on Infant Feeding and Sleep

“…17 Mothers also refrained from drinking any alcoholic beverages during the 3 days preceding each test day, because our previous research demonstrated alterations in sleep and activity levels after exposure to alcohol in mothers' milk. 16,18 Each mother-infant dyad arrived at the Monell Center at ~9:30 AM. Infants were last breastfed 2.5 ± 0.2 hours before testing; there was no significant difference in the time since the infants were last fed on the 2 testing days.…”