Wednesday, August 17, 2016

How to Survive a Hangover with a Toddler

Friday night I went out with some mommy friends for mom’s night out. I got a little drunk… ok maybe a lot… six glasses of Pinot Noir later I was pretty shit faced. Needless to say Saturday morning I had a bit of a hangover. We’ve all been there, head throbbing, feeling nauseous, the two year old who doesn’t know how to use an inside voice, and thinks you’re the jungle gym for the morning, while simultaneously making the baby (who is nearly a toddler) scream. It’s awful. Managing a hangover and the two girls can be a bit challenging. I thought before Friday comes along I would post some tips on how to survive a hangover with munchkins running around.


Hangover prevention is important, but it’s pretty hard to think about preventing one when you completely drunk. Here are a few things that I try to do to help not have a horrible hangover in the morning.


Don’t get old, stay around 22. I get very few hangovers. I can count the number of hangovers I have had on one hand, and I’ve gotten hammered quite a few times. Age definitely matters when it comes to hangovers. Even though I have only been drinking for a little while, the hangovers have gotten ever so slightly worse as I have gotten older. Stay young!


Eat food that helps absorb some of the booze. Friday we went out for sushi, rice and fish do not absorb alcohol well. Things like pizza, pasta or sandwiches help immensely. Apparently Ice cream does the trick too (shockingly, I haven’t tried that yet).


Drink lots of water. Alcohol makes you dehydrated. Drinking plenty of water throughout the night, before bed, and in the morning does wonders.


My favorite wine glasses yes with a
margarita in it, no stems but still insulated.
Don’t over do it. Know your limit. A bit of alcohol is fun, but everyone has a limit. It is easy to over do the alcohol, especially if you are drunk. When you’re drunk everything seems like a good idea, and in my case, one more glass leads to one more bottle.


If you take all these steps and still have a hangover, which is very likely a possibility, here is how to survive with little ones.


Spend as long as you can in bed. If your significant other (SO) didn’t get drunk too, let him/her deal with the kids in the morning. If that’s not a possibility, for example, when Heather wakes up she always needs milk. So RJ gets her for me and puts her in bed with me, I nurse her then he takes the girls downstairs for an hour or so. Getting an extra few hours of sleep when you have had a late night helps a lot.


If you are concerned about alcohol in breast milk, please do your research. Alcohol passes in and out of breast milk the same way it travels through your bloodstream, and in the same amounts. The basic guide line is if you are sober enough to hold your baby you are sober enough to breastfeed. For most people the biggest danger to their baby when they are drunk, is dropping their baby, not alcohol transferring to breast milk. Holding a set of keys or phone is nearly impossible when you are super dunk, forget a wiggling baby. If you know you are going to be shit faced, pump some milk before hand. Alcohol doesn’t get stored in breast milk, there is no need to pump and dump (source from La Leche League). Too much of anything is bad. Some women experience a drop in supply after a few drinks. I do not. It is definitely what ever makes you comfortable when it comes to drinking and breastfeeding.


The first bottle of wine I opened all by my self. 
If you’re SO cannot watch the kids, muster up the energy to haul yourself and kid(s) down stairs. The best thing to do from there (if you are still able to stand) is, do everything to make your kid(s) content for as long as possible. For me this involves, changing diapers because if I don’t to it immediately someone will leak or blow out, causing more work for my hungover self in a few minutes. Set out the favorite snacks or if you’re brave feed them breakfast. Rose loves cereal with milk, but sometimes she can be high maintenance about it. For example if she spills milk on the table she needs a paper towel to wipe it up. Sometimes she eats more than one bowl, which would require me to get up and hope the room stops spinning so I can refill her bowl before she decides to throw a tantrum and kick it over. Pick something your kid loves but is low maintenance, for Rose that is typically Cheetos (I do feed my kids healthy food most the time cough cough, at least they eat right?) Fill up milk/water sippies, get out a few toys, and put  something quiet but exciting on the TV. If I pick the wrong movie or TV show Rose gets incredibly involved and repeats, “Mommy look, Mommy look, insert random movie character here” and I lose my mind when I’m not drunk.



Pimm's cup, so yummy but they are too sweet
for me know. I have out grown them...
Before lying down again, I recommend eating something light, a slice of toast or some crackers, and downing a few glasses of water, OJ, or something else hydrating. If you are feeling particularly bad pop a few Aspirin too.


Doing all this even if it is absolute hell during the process, usually gets me, one maybe two hours of time that I can lie on the couch without getting up too much. If I get really lucky and can get Heather down for her morning nap. This turns into two sometimes three hours, as long as Rose is having a good day.


It might seem like a lot to do but if I don’t do everything I can to get the girls content before lying down, I have to get up multiple times to help them.

I hope your hangover recoveries are quick and painless, and these tips on how to do it with little humans help. Thanks for reading!




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