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The Effects of Alcohol on Infants

Whether an expectant mother drinks while pregnant or a mother who breastfeeds chooses to drink after her baby is born, her alcohol consumption can have harmful consequences for her infant. Alcohol consumption is the leading preventable cause of birth defects in infants, according to The Nemours Foundation. The effects can range from mild to extreme, but a factor that all effects have in common is that they are negative for the infant.

  1. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: Immediate Symptoms

    • When a pregnant woman consumes alcohol, the alcohol can result in fetal alcohol syndrome that begins in the womb. Once the baby is born, the side effects of his mother's alcohol consumption can continue to manifest themselves in the form of mental and physical challenges that are immediately identifiable after birth, such as low birth weight, small head circumference, poor coordination and motor skills, organ failure, anxiety and facial abnormalities that can include an underdeveloped groove between the nose and lip, smaller eye openings and flattened cheekbones.

    Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: Long Term Effects

    • Drinking while pregnant has immediate and long-term effects. They can affect the infant as he grows and develops -- even over the course of his lifetime. A child exposed to alcohol in the womb can experience effects such as poor coordination, a lack of fine motor skills, difficulty making and keeping friends, lack of imaginative skills or curiosity, poor memory, diminished problem-solving ability and language comprehension skills, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness.

    Breastfeeding Infants and Alcohol

    • When a lactating female drinks alcoholic beverages, less than 2 percent of the alcohol is transferred to the milk. The levels of alcohol in the milk will be similar to the levels of alcohol in the blood. Peak levels of alcohol occur in the mother's milk between one-half and one hour after consuming and then begin to decrease. Studies cited by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism state that breastfeeding infants experience a 20 percent decrease in milk consumption in the three to four hours following their mother's alcohol consumption due to a reduction in the production of the milk from the mother's body. So, if a mother is drinking heavily, she will transfer the effects of the alcohol to the baby, which can interfere with his sleep patterns and gross motor development. Also, the baby will receive less milk due to reduced availability.

    Surgeon General's Warnings

    • The Surgeon General recommends that women who are pregnant -- or who may become pregnant -- abstain from drinking any alcohol. The Surgeon General states that "no amount of alcohol is safe," so avoiding alcohol is key for women who are pregnant. Alcohol could effect fetal development as early as the first few weeks of conception, so if you could become pregnant, you should not drink alcohol to protect the fetus.

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