Breast feeding illness immunity

[Sarah13]

How does this immunity/antibody thing work for breast feeding your baby? I've just had a sleepless night as Kynon seems like he has the cold/sore throat bug my daughter and husband have but I don't have it so assumed I'd be passing my immunity on to Kynon? I sat and fed him for 6 hours last night as I thought I had no milk and he just wasn't happy and settled unless on my breast, he's really unsettled now and sounds throaty and won't be put down so I've sat cuddling him the rest of night and morning.

 

[littlemiss83]

I know BFing helps baby but im not sure exactly how, it wont make baby immune to everything though, i'd say baby would still be able to catch a cold in the same way a bottle fed baby would.

I had probs BFing my 1st & my MW got someone from a BFing workshop to come & sit with me for an hour or two, got some good advice but it didn't help in the long run but it may help you?!

Are you managing to get any naps during the day?

 

[Maria1977]

I don't think BFing can stop babies getting colds, but it can help them fight it. If they contract a cold their saliva will pass information through the boob as to what goodness it needs from mum to fight it. It will also help baby breathe through the snuffles while latched on.

There is a user on this forum called Dragonfly Fi, she has posted alot of info on breastfeeding that I have find really helpful and informative.

I know that breastfeeding will help LO build up immunities but I'm pretty sure it can't stop babies from conracting illnesses, just aids them in fighting them.

xxxx

 

[xxbeckyxx]

A midwife told me that if you smell your baby, your body will pick up what bacteria they have on them and then half an hour later your milk has produced the antibodies to fight that type of bacteria.
However, colds are spread by a virus, so it won't work with a common cold. Would help prevent it from turning into a chest infection or something though I guess, as that's a bacterial thing?

 

[Sarah13]

Thanks girls. He's been sleeping most of the day and seems a bit better than last night so maybe breast milk helps prevent things getting too bad. I cant really sleep in day though as we still have builders in
Dragonfly Fi does have some great breast feeding advice, I've seen lots of her posts!
Interesting about smelling your baby lol! Worth a try though. He can breath ok just not right somehow.

 

[Alexandra84]

As far as I remember it, you will still have been exposed to the cold virus that your LO has. The reason that you don't get ill is that you must be already immune to it for whatever the reason, so you're already producing the right antibodies to fight it off. These will then be excreted in your breast milk and help your LO fight off the virus too. It might not stop him getting ill but should ensure that he doesn't get very ill and will recover quicker than if you weren't breastfeeding

Hope he feels better soon!

PS - I've noticed that whenever my little girl is unhappy or uncomfortable, she wants to be on the breast too, even if she only suckles for a minute.

 

[Cantstop]

My hubby and LO have both recently had a cold that I didn't get (amazingly haha!) - I had originally thought if I was immune then she would be too but obviously not. She did recover MUCH quicker than the hubby though so I do think my milk must have had some antibodies to help her. I read an article that kissing your baby (similar to the idea of smelling what Becky said) means that your body notices what antigens are on your baby so you produce the relevant antibodies in your milk - pretty cool