Breastfeeding Mom Has a Tempiture of 102.2 - Henderson,NV

Do you have mastitis?? That is a breast infection - you need to take care of it right away. Go to the doctor, it will not go away by itself. Pump the affected breast and feed her off of the one that is OK. I hope you feel better soon!

Keep feeding that will help you. She wont get it. You probably have a clogged milk duct and that is what is causing it. This is very common. You have to keep feeding for it to get better. Trust me, myself and a few friends have had this.

YES!!!!!!!!! Don't stop breastfeeding when you are ill. Please utilize www.askdrsears.com and www.kellymom.com if you need answers in a pinch or in the middle of the night. Both are great resources.

Now, on to your fever. Any other symptoms? I'm only concerned that you might be getting mastitis (spelled it wrong). If no other symptoms, then I hope this is all you get and you are feeling better soon. Congrats on your brand new baby. Please, EAT, DRINK plenty of water and REST when you can! Nurse on demand for now while you build up your milk supply.

I hope everything else is going well!
Hugs!!!
M.

Yes you can still nurse, even though you don't feel good, there is nothing wrong with your milk. BUT if you feel too crummy and can't nurse, pump to keep up your supply. If you can't do that either, remember you can get your supply back if you eat and drink well even after about 2 weeks. The best is to nurse if you're up to it. Remember the more you breast feed the healthier your child will be and won't catch whatever you have. Just wash your hands alot. Breast feeding is like medicine for your baby, best thing for them, made specifically for them.

You might have mastitis - I had it with all three of my daughters. Call your doc ASAP but it is important to continue breastfeeding.

Hi M.,
I woke up on Day 5 after my daughter's birth with a fever of 104. Turned out I had a urinary tract infection.

Yes, you can continue breastfeeding and your daughter won't get a fever. As a matter of fact, the antibodies you make will help protect her. You can even continue breastfeeding on most antibiotics, if it turns out you need one.

Just make sure to drink plenty of fluids so you don't dehydrate.

I'd talk with my doctor about this one. It won't hurt your child, but you should consider whether you might have mastitis (an easily treatable breast infection that breastfeeding moms get, with a sore breast and fever) or something else for which you might need antibiotics. Good luck!

Yes, absolutely continue to breastfeed. It will not harm your baby. Here's a link to La Leche League trusted by mothers and doctors for decades:
http://www.llli.org/nb.html

You probably already found this out. ..but just in case you didn't. ..

The baby will not get a fever from you.

Secondly, you may have mastitis and require an antibiotic. Call your OB about your fever. Same thing happened to me when my first was 9 days old. You may have redness/hot area on one or both breasts if you have this. It's miserable. I hope you get better soon!

It's safe to breastfeed her, it will actual protect her from what you've got, but you should call your OB...you may have an infection if you're only 10 days postpardum...or you might also have a breast infection.
-M

I have nothing new to say but I wanted to also put my voice in to not stop breastfeeding and to go see your Dr.

You should keep breastfeeding if you can anytime you are sick. You have already exposed your little one to whatever it is and the best thing you can do is keep breastfeeding him to give him your antibodies to fight it. Are you sick? Check your breasts for lumps you could have mastitis. Good luck to you and enjoy your little one. : )

It's safe to keep breastfeeding but please go to your OB to get checked out for an infection, either in your breast or internally. You need to go to the OB. A 102 fever is not normal.

The same thing happened to me when my son was 11 days old. I was able to keep breastfeeding. I had caught an infection in the delivery room and was given safe antibiotics to take while breastfeeding. I called my doctor, because you are supposed to when your fever gets over 101 that soon after delivery. Since it was a weekend, I had to go to the emergency room since my doctor's office was closed. Call your doctor and get in as soon as possible to get checked out. You may be achy while breastfeeding, but do it anyway. All the antibodies that your body makes are good for your baby, especially when you are sick. The only time you shouldn't breastfeed your baby when you are sick is when you take a medication that could pass to the baby. I've always breastfed my little one when I was sick and he has only been sick for a half a day in the past 12 months of his life! Breastfeeding really boosts their immunity. I hope that you feel better soon!

Yes, keep nursing yor daughter. She can't catch a fever from being breastfed. I'll actually help her stay strong. You probably still need antibiotics for yourself, so see the doctor.

Congratulations!

Are your breasts sore? It's possible you might have a breast infection. Although it happened to me 13 years ago, I clearly remember it. I thought I had the flu, but found out it was actually breast infection (there is a more technical name...I can't remember it). It is not that uncommon, but painful and I had a fever as a symptom. I was told to continue to breastfeed (not harmful to the baby). I'm sure there are other solutions by now, but I'm sure you have pediatitrician visits planned, or see your OB/GYN for a followup.

yes, continue to breastfeed. she will not get a fever. in fact, whatever you are fighting will make antibodies in your breastmilk (makes your breastmilk like a natural source of antibiotics to help her fight whatever the illness is). Her immune system is still developing right now, so she needs your breastmilk to help her fight illness.

but what do you think the fever is from? have you been around anyone that is sick? have you checked your breast for plugged ducts or mastitis?

feel your breast to see if there are any firm spots, reddness, or red streaks. are they tender? those could all be signs of mastitis. if so, check with your doctor. you might need to go on antibiotics. and most doctors like you to notify them for any fevers over 100.4. you could have an infection in your uterus too.

hope this helps. and keep on breastfeeding. in almost all cases you can continue to breastfeed. it will only make engorgement better and decrease your chances of mastitis. if you have to go on antibiotics, tell your doctor to give you something that's okay to breastfeed with. you can with many.

good luck!

I agree with what i read, but you can keep feedin gbut need to go in to get anti-biotics for yourself, and don't be discoraged if your baby doesn't want to eat for to long your heat can make them uncomfortable .. it happened to me with my first and i ended up crying becasue i was miserable and so was the baby becasue of my temp.. my mom stepped in and helped with the baby for a few hours so i could sleep it off a little..

It is always best to breastfeed beby. She will not get a fever. You might have mastitis( a breast infection), causing your fever. Breastfeeding will give your baby immunities and it will also help any clogged ducts. Good luck!

Do you have a painful lump in your breast? I'm wondering if you have a clogged duct. If this is the case, it's okay to continue breast feeding. In fact, you need to in order to relieve the clogged duct and prevent it from becoming enflamed.

But I strongly recommend you call your Dr. right away, just to be sure.

Hi M.,

I too had a 102 temp days after my daughter was born. After talking to the on-call doctor for 24 hours without the temperature going down, I was sent to the emergency room. As the ER doctor said, I had a "raging bladder infection". I think since your body goes through so much trauma post-delivery, I didn't even realize and the fever was my body's way of fighting it.

Please make sure you get yourself to the doctor asap if you have not done so already. And yes, I agree with the others that you should continue breastfeeding. The antibodies that your body provides will keep your daughter immune.

I always think of my experience as a reminder to myself and other new moms that you have been through a major body trauma and you need to take care of your body. Good luck.

Hi M. - why do you have a temperature? I got mastitis (a breast infection) about 2 weeks after my daughter was born. I went to my OB who prescribed antibiotics. In my case, it was OK to continue breastfeeding. You should contact your pediatrician to find out if it's OK to breastfeed.

If it is mastitis, yes, of course it is safe to continue breast-feeding her. If you have a painful, red spot on your breasts and your fever is accompanied by other flu-like symptom then make sure to get to the doctor quickly. Mastitis (aka breast infection) requires anti-biotics.

Hi M.,

Lots of different illnesses can cause fever and some can be transmitted to your baby, but not many can be transmitted through your breast milk. In fact, your milk is chock full of antibodies that you are raising to the infecting organism (most likely culprit is viral, but could also be bacterial, fungal, or parasitic, depending on what you've been exposed to). This offers protection to your baby, so absolutely keep nursing, but take other general precautions for not transmitting whatever you may have.

This means, first and foremost, WASH YOUR HANDS before you handle your child (or anything--especially food--for others). Try to avoid breathing directly into her face in case what you have requires airborne transmission. Avoid kissing her or anything that would transmit your saliva (spit) to her until the fever breaks.

Also, be careful what you take to help you through the fever as many drugs do cross into breast milk and can affect your baby. A really good list of safe drugs to take while lactating can be found at

http://www.babycenter.com/0_drug-safety-during-breastfeed...

You'll be happy to know that Tylenol (acetominophen) and Motrin (ibuprofen) can both be taken safely (although not together). Both of these can help you reduce the fever so that you will feel better. You can take the two drugs 3 hours apart, which can give you better fever control than just taking one or the other.

The next question is what is causing the fever. By now, I hope you've gone to see a doctor, because 102 is a pretty high fever for an adult. If not, here are a couple of possibilities. This is not exactly flu season, but it is still possible that you have picked up a simple viral infection that will clear up on its own in a few days. You should also consider who you've been exposed to in the past month. Have you had contact with anyone else with similar symptoms? What did they have? What other symptoms do you have? Are you nauseated, tired and have abdominal tendernous? Have you been out of the country in the past month? Hepatitis A is endemic in the Southern Hemisphere (including Mexico) and can cause flu-like symptoms. (Don't worry -- HAV can be uncomfortable but is rarely serious, unlike HBV or HCV.)

Others have metioned mastitis (a breast infection caused by clogged milk ducts). This is also a good possibility. Is there an area on your breast that is deeper red than the surrounding tissue. or is one entire breast red and inflammed? If it feels hot and painful to the touch, mastitis is a good possibility. You can treat this by encouraging your little one to suckle more on that breast and by applying hot compresses to the area to help expand the milk ducts. Standing in a hot shower (which may not be the most comfortable while running a fever) and manually expressing milk while running the hot water over your breast can also help.

As you can see, there are lots of different possible causes for a sudden onset of fever. I haven't mentioned some of the really scary ones, because they are SO rare and unlikely. If the fever persists for more than a couple of days or you develop other potentially serious symptoms (like a deep cough, trouble breathing, an unusual rash, etc.) definitely go see a doctor and get it checked out. In the mean time, keep taking in lots of cool fluids and try to get more rest.

Hope you feel better soon!

R.

Hi M.,

Vongratulations on your new baby. I hope by now you've been to your MD or OB and you're on your way to recovery. Just to solidify everything all these ladies have mentioned...my baby is now 10 months old and though I've been sick several times (at least 3)- fever, coughing, headaches, she never got sick even sligtly. She only got a slight cough which lasted 3 days when my sister came for a week's visit and her 1.5-year-old daughter was really sick with the flu. Obviously whatever has made me sick, she received the antibodies to before it could affect her. She got sick from my niece, because she did not receive any antibodies to whatever strain of flu she had. The moral: As long as your nursing your baby, she's protected from most common ailments you suffer from. BUT make sure you keep her away from anyone else, including dad, who is sick.

P.S.

If you're still feeling badly...I always find that nursing my baby while in bed is the easiest thing ever. We both end up falling asleep. However, since you're warmer than ususal, your little one might become uncomfortable. Just want you to know that you don't have to sit up to nurse if you're hurting.
Best of luck to you and your little one.

M.,

Yes, you should continue breastfeeding. Breastfeeding shares your antibodies with your baby. If you were to quit breastfeeding, you'd be sharing your germs without sharing your antibodies. And that would be bad. If she does get your fever, your breastmilk will help her get better. Keep nursing!

:-)T.

Dear M.,

I agree with the postings I read that it is fine to continue nursing - HOWEVER, I am in the minority in stating that she may catch what you have. The issue is what is causing your fever. If you have a virus, she has already been exposed - not through your breast milk, but by your proximity. I breast-fed my baby through MY chicken pox. She was exposed before I even knew I had them. She got a good strong case of them - and doesn't have to worry about ever having them again (some babies don't have a strong enough case as infants to build immunity) - if your fever is from mastitis, as is the common train of thought here, then yes, nurse through it to help ease it, and she won't catch it . . .

Good luck!
B.

It is absolutely safe to breastfeed, and highly recommended. She will get antibodies against whatever you have through your breast milk. If your fever is due to mastitis, you may need antibiotics, but should still continue to breastfeed.

You may have mastitis, or picked up an infection in the hospital. I would call your doctor right away!

Keep nursing her - your body automatically makes the right antibodies for her not to catch what you're having!
Hope you feel better soon!

You can still breast feed with temp. You may be getting mastiatis. If you take acidophilus,it is a natural antibiotic. It has alway worked for me w/ mastitis. Just start it right away. Plus hot showers, and massaging. You can get it in pill form at CVS, trader joe's, also in yogurt. Good Luck!

Hi M., The baby should be fine, feed and get help with the baby during the day.

Yes, yes! Keep nursing - she needs milk!