How soon after finishing macrobid can I return to breastfeeding

[Girlmom330]

I just finished a 7 day course of Macrobid and am looking to get back to breastfeeding. Is 72 hours sufficient to ensure it is out of my breast milk as my daughter is less than a month old? Thank you!

[kaytlin]

Hi Girlmom330,

Yes, this is plenty of time to allow for it to clear.

Kaytlin Krutsch, PharmD

[ethanbrody02]

Because only small amounts of nitrofurantoin are passed into breast milk, it is generally safe for a woman to take the drug while she is nursing her child. Even though there are no reports, all babies who are exposed to nitrofurantoin have a risk of hemolytic anaemia because their glutathione is not stable. This risk is much higher for babies who don't have enough glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase. Studies have shown that glutathione stability can be reached in infants as early as the eighth day of life, even though some sources say that nitrofurantoin shouldn't be used on children younger than one month. If the child is less than one month old, a different antibiotic might be better than nitrofurantoin. However, if a different antibiotic couldn't be found, the use of nitrofurantoin wouldn't be a reason to stop breastfeeding. When something like this happens, the baby's doctor needs to watch them closely while they breastfeed.