Breastfeeding with an Illness

By all means, keep breastfeeding. Even if she gets a mild illness, the breastfeeding will help her fight off a worse case of the illness. Hang in there and I hope you feel better soon! Kati

Jenn,
The same thing happened to me. When my son was two months. I had a cold and I was affraid I was going to get him sick. I was told to keep breastfeeding so he could get my anti-bodies. He did get a little sick, but it only lasted a couple of days compared to my week and a half. Don't worry it'll be fine.

I'm not an expert by any means, but I believe that nursing your daughter is actually the best thing you could do, because breast milk is a living fluid. This means that the levels of vitamins, fat, and immune-boosting agents vary all the time depending on the situation, even within a single 24 hour period. Simply put, your body is most likely passing on the immunity information to your daughter, not making her sick.

Also, making a change in diet right now is probably not a good idea just on general principle, because it could stress your baby out and make her more likely to get sick and more fussy.

I have nursed all three of my kids and had a couple nasty bouts of stomach flu, and what I actually found was that the baby was often the only one who escaped the bug. YMMV of course!

Not only is it safe to nurse her- you SHOULD nurse her! If you give her formula she will not get the specific antibodies your milk is giving to her against YOUR illness (not to mention all the risks of artificial baby milk in general.)

Absolutely continue to nurse. Your milk is easier for your daughter to digest and it will contain the antibodies for the bug that you have. Nursing will be a comfort for her and help her get over whatever it is quickly.

You won't pass illness on through breastfeeding (and you'll be close to her breastfeeding or bottle feeding), but you will pass on antibodies that will make her well sooner. Nurse on!

K.

I really doubt that your breast milk is to blame, unless you are both having an allergic reaction or intolerance to something you ate. If that is the case, you'll need to figure out what it was and avoid that in the future!

Keep in mind that your baby is probably going to catch the illness if it's contagious no matter what you do, because you are around her and in such close contact (bottle-feeding wouldn't prevent that), and her immune system is still developing. It sounds like she may have already caught whatever you have (or she had it first and you caught it from her), so it may be too late to worry about prevention anyway. Still, frequent hand-washing and laundering her sheets and blankets may help a little.

I would call your doctor about the illness if the diarrhea and upset stomach continue for more than a day or seem very serious, but continue to nurse (unless the pediatrician says otherwise for some reason), because breast milk should be easier on her sensitive stomach than formula. Also, if she hasn't had a bottle of formula before, she's not going to be happy about switching while she doesn't feel well; she'll want something familiar and comforting (don't we all?). :-)

HTH!
--A.

I had this very same question with my last child, my doctor told me that it was important to nurse when you sick because you pass on the antibodies that your body is making to your child.
Chances are that if you have been exposed to a virus your baby has already been exposed too!

Hope you feel better soon,
E.

Yes, by all means nurse. The baby was exposed even before you felt sick, so it's good that she is getting antibodies from you now.

J. Grimm . com

Keep nursing as much as possible. Your baby will get immunities through the breastmilk, and she hopefully won't get sick or it won't be as bad.

I nursed my son when I came down with some bug like you described--felt like I had some stomach virus or something. The illness did not last long--a day or so--so it was not serious so it was ok to nurse him as I was giving him my antibodies as I was making them. I bet you are feeling better already. If you are very sick, see a doctor for advice.

I was in your same situation last month with a 3 week old. I kept nursing him and had him with me 24/7 and he never got sick. Good luck and feel better!!

Keep nursing her it would be unlikely she'll get sick this soon after birth her antibodies are getting in through nursing her.Keep up good handwashing before and after feedings and of course other times throughout the day and disinfect your rooms with Lysol spray and all counter tops every where things are touched today so for your other children can stay healthy.School is around the corner.
SAHM of 2 kiddos and one due in March

I'm definately not an expert, but I nursed all 3 of my kids. I'd always been told to go ahead and nurse them when you're sick. They're probably going to get it anyway, and the antibodies in your breastmilk will help them get over the virus quicker.

It's still best to continue nursing your little one. She will continue to get the best nourishing and immunities through your breast milk despite you being sick. Hope you get to feeling better quickly.

Definately do not stop nursing!! She's already been exposed to it (not by your milk, but by contact), and needs your antibodies to help her get over it.

I agree with the other posts, keep nursing. I had the same issue, I picked up a head cold/sore troat from my step-son shortly after I got home from the hospital with my son. I kept nursing and he never seemed to get it. The only other advice I can give is, if you decide to take medication for your cold, make sure it is safe to take while breastfeeding. If you have a question about it, call your doctor or look it up online. If you look it up online, be sure to look up the active ingredients because some of them will reduce your milk supply. Reduced milk supply can lead to a cranky baby and one that wants to nurse ALL the time. Hope you are feeling better soon!

La Leche League is the foremost authority on breastfeeding in the world. If they have said it's safe, I'd trust nobody's opinion more than that. As a former member of the organization, I remember that breastmilk has a sort of antibiotic property that can actually protect the baby from getting an illness, even from you. If you'd like a more indepth answer to your question than you got on the LLL website, I'd suggest calling a leader. It's free and they'd be more than happy to help you in any way they could. If you'd like the phone number to the leader that I trust the most on knowledge issues such as this, just respond to me and I'd be happy to pass on that information. Good luck to you, and God bless you for putting the health of your baby first!

Definitely keep nursing!!!

It's the best way to protect your baby. Your anitbodies are part of your milk. THis is nature's way of protecting babies from the illnesses passed around in society.

I've known mothers who got the stomach flu and had it passed around all their other kids, but the nursing infants stayed healthy! THat's proof!

And don't forget to drink LOTS of fluids. If you're sick, you're at risk for getting dehydrated, and you need lots of fluids to keep producing a good supply of milk for baby. Plus, keep an eye out for plugged ducts at this time. Your immunity is down when you're sick and you will be more susceptible to mastitis. Get well soon!

You can still breastfeed, our bodies are an amazing work of God and will only provide the best milk for your baby no matter how down we become. The only thing you have to watch is if you start taking any meds., as you do not want to pass those to your baby. Best of luck to you.
K.

It is totally okay for you to feed your munchkin. She won't get sick from your milk. I did the same thing. Just make sure you are washing your hands and sanitizing things after you have touched them.
My main problem with this was that I started to get dehydrated so you will want to drink A LOT of fluids.
Take care and hope you feel better soon.

The same thing happened to me when my son was about 5 weeks old...I kept nursing him, but I made sure to drink Gatorade (or pedialyte)to keep me hydrated. My son ended up with diahrea from my bug (or whatever it was)...I was sick for about 24 hours...he had diahrea for a week, but never seemd in discomfort.

J.,
When I was still pregnant with my 2nd child I went to a Breastfeeding class. Needless to say I had never done it with my first child who had a severe milk allergy. I wanted all the information I could get. This woman who taught the class has been a nurse for years and is the hospitals head lactation consultant. She told me that when you are sick your body produces antibodies and that when you breast feed you are giving your child these antibodies. So your baby can get sick but it will not be as bad and will help her to get over the illness faster than a formula fed baby. You also have to remember that everything has an incubation period so, if you were going to pass on something to her..you have already done so before you were even feeling ill.
But I am a mom and I know how people think. If anything you can alway contact your MD and ask him. Also if you live in the St. Louis Area most hospitals have Lacation consultants on staff that you can talk to for free I know St. Johns does. Even if you dont live in the area you may be able to speak to them.

I breasfed both of my kids and got sick during breast feeding with both. I continued nursing them during my short bout of illness and they were both fine and neither of them got sick. Keep breastfeeding them.

Keep on nursing... This is the best time because now you are giving your baby your immunties that your body is producing. This is the best part about breast feeding. Because frankly your baby would have gotten this from just being close to you-- regardless if you are nursing or not we all hold our babies close. You are have a more mature immune system and don't show signs as quickly so don't beat yourself up.. everyone is contageous before they show signs. So keep on nursing because your body will produce milk to help your baby fight off their illness.

i had this same question when my daughter was born. My mother had told me that she nursed my sisters and i through every sickness she ever had and that it never caused us any harm. just shows you that breast milk is that much better than formula? but i have noticed that when i do get even a little stomach ache, my daughter seems to get one around the same time...coincidence-who knows, but definitely something to think about.

By all means continue to nurse. Your breastmilk actually protects your baby from your illness by producing antibodies that become part of your milk. If you stop nursing- your baby is much more likely to catch your bug, than if you continue nursing, because she won't be exposed to the immunity of your antibodies.
-Breastfeeding mom who is also a breastfeeding educator and nurse

Definitely keep nursing. Your illness shouldn't affect your baby. It was probably just a coincidence that she wasn't feeling well that same day. Don't give formula if you don't want to interrupt your milk supply.

OH MY! I thought all breastfeeding moms knew this...

When you are sick, your body builds antibodies and immunities... you NEED to pass these to your baby through your milk. She will get whatever sicknesses you have usually, and this wonderful medicine called breastmilk will help her get over them. Yes, your milk is medicine for her when you two get sick, so definitely keep nursing momma! This is one of the reasons 'breast is best' :)

I recommend calling your doctor. When I had food poisoning, the doctor recommended to "pump and dump" until I was symptom-free. They said food poisoning is one of the only times when you don't continue breast feeding during an illness. If you think it's a different bug, I would continue breast feeding.

Your body is fighting the virus and reating antibodies to do so. The only way your daughter is getting these antibodies is through your breast milk. Her immune system is not strong enough to fight it on its own. Keep breastfeeding!!!