A new mother asks whether she can resume occasional alcohol consumption while breastfeeding. Which recommendation best reflects evidence-based counseling to minimize infant harm?

Stop breastfeeding altogether if she ever consumes any alcohol, even in social amounts, because any ethanol exposure through milk causes irreversible neurological damage to the infant regardless of dose or timing.

Avoid alcohol or space feedings after drinking—if she has one standard drink, wait about 2–3 hours before breastfeeding or pump and discard if intoxicated—because alcohol transfers into milk and can impair infant sleep and development at higher exposures.

Continue breastfeeding immediately after drinking small amounts because the enzymes in human milk rapidly metabolize ethanol and prevent transfer to the infant, so there is no need to time feedings around alcohol intake.

Replace breastfeeding with formula for the first 6 months whenever alcohol is consumed, even if the mother plans to drink only water or nonalcoholic beverages, because the risk from trace exposures is unpredictable and routine formula use is universally safer.