Pregnant? Stay SAFE from alcohol and drugs

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It’s a fact.

Drinking alcohol and abusing drugs while pregnant harms your baby. It can cause birth defects!
If you are pregnant, might be pregnant, or trying to get pregnant STOP using alcohol and abusing drugs.

Your Unborn Baby Drinks

What You Drink

Parenting is the start of a long journey… and it is hard work! Taking care of yourself and staying healthy helps you be able to care for your child.

  • Remember, you are not alone. Take one day at a time. It is never to late to get started on your recovery.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Is The Only Disease That Is 100% Preventable

It may seem like a drink now can do no harm. Yet, alcohol can cause you to lose your baby to a miscarriage.

Drinking can cause Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). Your baby can be born exposed to substances and then go through withdrawal. Your baby will cry, shake, and hurt. It can cause your baby to have:

  • Slow growth
  • Small brain size
  • Learning disorders throughout the school years
  • Poor judgement which could lead to problems breaking the law as an adult
  • Attention problems
  • Trouble getting along with others

Make A Change

Now

There are a few things you can do if you are pregnant or there’s a chance you could become pregnant, these include:

Take Your Prescriptions

Use your own prescription medication. Never borrow or use another person’s prescription.

Get Help

There is no amount of alcohol that is safe during pregnancy. Alcohol can cause life-long behavioral and learning issues. Please talk to someone if you are struggling with eliminating alcohol during your pregnancy or visit:

Follow Directions

Take your prescription medications exactly as prescribed by your doctor. Read all instructions carefully before taking any prescription medications.

Follow Directions

Take your prescription medications exactly as prescribed by your doctor. Read all instructions carefully before taking any prescription medications.
Alcohol and Drugs

Parenting is a hard job especially if you are trying to keep infants and young children safe.

Drug or alcohol use may make it harder for a parent to attend to their child. Keeping a child safe means paying attention to the environments that they live, play, and sleep in.

Under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, a parent may not be able to make the safest choices. For example, a parent may fall asleep and sleep heavier then usual. If they are cosleeping with infants and young children, this can put them at risk for suffocation.

Tobacco

Tobacco use by caregivers who are around infants and young children can affect the children’s health.

Secondhand smoke is smoking that occurs in an enclosed space like the home or a car. Examples of thirdhand smoke are when a baby inhales the toxins from the clothing, hair, and skin of someone who smokes.

Exposure to secondhand and thirdhand smoke puts young children at risk for ear infections, asthma, or more serious breathing problems when they get a cold or virus.

Street Drugs

Young children are naturally curious and can get into any drugs or prescribed medicines that are not safely stored. They may unintentionally swallow or eat something that is not intended for them.

Always keep prescriptions and any drugs or medicines out of the reach of children. In a key locked medicine cabinet is best.

Ask your doctor before taking any medicines. Medicines you used before you got pregnant may not be safe to take now. Even those sold at a drugstore or grocery store can hurt your baby.

Street Drugs

Young children are naturally curious and can get into any drugs or prescribed medicines that are not safely stored. They may unintentionally swallow or eat something that is not intended for them.

Always keep prescriptions and any drugs or medicines out of the reach of children. In a key locked medicine cabinet is best.

Ask your doctor before taking any medicines. Medicines you used before you got pregnant may not be safe to take now. Even those sold at a drugstore or grocery store can hurt your baby.

Get Help

and Support

Quitting drugs or alcohol can be hard. If you want help, visit:
If you want to learn more about alcohol and how it harms a baby, visit:
For help caring for a child with FASD, visit:
To get medical care while pregnant or if you might get pregnant, visit the Healthy Women/Healthy Babies program at:

Want help sorting it out?

Use your phone to dial 2-1-1 for Help Me Grow to be connected with an advisor who can connect you with services.

Get Help

and Support

Quitting drugs or alcohol can be hard. If you want help, visit:
If you want to learn more about alcohol and how it harms a baby, visit:
For help caring for a child with FASD, visit:
To get medical care while pregnant or if you might get pregnant, visit the Healthy Women/Healthy Babies program at:

Want help sorting it out?

Use your phone to dial 2-1-1 for Help Me Grow to be connected with an advisor who can connect you with services.

Feeding a 6-7 Month Old

Feed solids with a spoon and from a bowl, never from a bottle.

Feeding a 10-12 Month Old

Breast milk is the most important source of nutrition for your baby, even after you start offering solid foods.

Feeding a 8-9 Month Old

Feed solids with a spoon. Never put cereal in a bottle.

Tips

Mom new born home

Breast milk and formula feeding:

Around 2-3 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months of age, babies may experience a growth spurt when they feed more often.

As they grow babies can hold more milk, so feedings may become further apart and take less time.

To prevent choking, always hold your baby when feeding. Never prop up a bottle to feed.

Start offering whole milk when your baby is one year old.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months and that breastfeeding continue for at least 12 months and beyond.

feeding solid foods

Feeding solid foods:

Wait to offer solid foods until your baby:

  • Can sit up and hold up their own head.
  • Opens their mouth when they see food.
  • Can close their lips around a spoon.

To prevent choking, always hold your baby when feeding. Never prop up a bottle to feed.

Try one new food at a time. Wait 5 days before trying another new food to watch for allergies. Food allergies may include wheezing, rash, or diarrhea.

Introduce peanut butter around 6 months. Spread a small, thin smear of peanut butter or nut butter thinly on a cracker.  Watch your baby for any reaction for the next 2 hours.

Babies under one year should NOT have honey due to the risk of botulism. Also, babies should not have foods that can cause choking like nuts or whole grapes.

All babies are different. Talk with WIC or your baby’s healthcare provider about your baby’s needs.

Feeding Cues

Feeding a 4-5 Month Old

Before teeth come in, wipe gums with a soft, clean wash cloth after each feeding, especially before bed.

Feeding a 0-3 Month Old

Newborns have tiny tummies and need to be fed often. In the first few weeks, you may need to wake your baby to feed if they sleep longer than 4 hours.

Growth Spurts

Many babies are fussy during a growth spurt and will want to nurse longer and more often. This is called cluster feeding. This is your baby’s way of helping you increase your milk supply so that you can keep up with their needs. Remember, the more your baby nurses, the more milk your body makes.

Growth spurts can happen at any time, and every baby is different.

They often happen at these ages:

two-three-weeks

2 to 3 Weeks

6 Weeks

three-months

3 Months

six-months

6 Months

What foods can I get?

Authorized Food List
Authorized Food List

Where can I shop?