breastfeeding and antibiotics and painkillers

[jills10uk]

i've just been put on a course of fairly strong antibiotics along with painkillers for a very painful cyst on my back that i have. i had no other choice as i couldn't sit up and feed / look after Josh properly.
the doctor told me that the antib will pass through the breastmilk and may affect my milk and make the baby fussy about it.
i was wondering if anyone else had been in the same position and whether their baby was fussy about the milk or whether i should consider feeding him formula for the 2 weeks? (tho the feeding is going so well i would love to keep at it but don't want him affected by my having to take all the tablets)

 

[LisaJ1986]

I was on antibiotics when Angel was little. I was just warned that she's have looser stools. Which i thought great, i was getting shed loads of leaky nappies as it was. She never became fussy, just pood a little more.

 

[Sherlock]

I had the same on my lower back when LO was 4-5 weeks old. I was put on meds for it with the GP warning me that it could/would pass into the breast milk and probably cause my LO an upset tummy. Never anything about becoming fussy. LO wanted to feed so did regardless. As to what came out the other end he was totally unaware. He was just pooing more.

I was breastfeeding so loose stools were normal but tbh I didn't want to put anything in my body like that so I stopped taking them after 2 days and went with Duoderm dressings and a few other things instead. Did go down in its own time then. I'd had the problem in the past and had dealt with it that way before. FWIW yes it was sodding painful sitting/laying down for me also. I managed however and 2 weeks later it had gone down enough to not be as much of an issue. I am having an op to remove it all later this year.

Btw, tiredness, being run down and stress can all cause this sort of thing to flare up. Hence it probably affecting you at this time.

I'd take the meds and stick with breastfeeding if I were you. Its only a possibility that LO may have looser stools or some such. Chances are he won't really have any side effects from it at all. Don't forget breastfed babies have very watery stools anyway. If you go over to formula for 2 weeks there is a good chance you won't go back to breastfeeding as your LO will possibly start to get used to and prefer formula. Especially if you have teats that flow too fast and he doesn't have to work at it. Also you will have to express regularly (every 2-3 hours in day and at least once in the night) to keep your supply up. It'd be a lot of work. Also he'd forget what your nipples are perhaps.

I'm sure breastfeeding will be fine. Just be prepared for a few more poos in the nappies maybe but other than that, don't worry overly.