A Q about EBFing and not vaxing

[AFWife]

I've wondered about this lately with all of the hype about H1N1 and the "need" to be vaccinated.

Dr. Sears points out that if you choose to not vaccinate you should BF for at least a year and that TWO years is best.

My question is this: What if my DS self-weans before 2 years? I did. I self-weaned at 14months...

He won't be getting the same immunities and whatnot if he weans before 2 years, right? So, should I be prepared to pump and give him expressed milk until age 2? What would/did you do?

[Mommy2Austin]

I say don't stress yourself. My DS was weaned suddenly at 12 months (I was dealing with my mom's death and not home often) has never been vaxed and I'm not the slightest bit worried. The first year is when the most immunities are shared.

If it makes you feel better then pump and store some bm for the possibility he might wean Otherwise I wouldn't stress it too much.

[mambera]

Originally Posted by Mommy2Austin

If it makes you feel better then pump and store some bm for the possibility he might wean Otherwise I wouldn't stress it too much.

Frozen stored breast milk does not retain the immunities of fresh milk. Live white blood cells don't last more than a short amount of time in the refrigerator. Even antibodies, which are pretty hardy, won't last through a freeze-and-thaw cycle in the regular freezer. So unless you have a container of liquid nitrogen and a -80C freezer, I wouldn't count on frozen BM for immune protection.

I think there's too much hype about H1N1 though. New flu strains come through all the time. An unvaccinated child is more likely to become seriously ill from an H. flu infection or the measles than from H1N1. So if you're already skipping vaxes for the most common childhood illnesses, I don't see why you should worry about H1N1 specifically, just because it's been in the news.

[AFWife]

I wasn't worried about it specifically...just in general.

[Mommy2Austin]

Originally Posted by mambera

Frozen stored breast milk does not retain the immunities of fresh milk. Live white blood cells don't last more than a short amount of time in the refrigerator. Even antibodies, which are pretty hardy, won't last through a freeze-and-thaw cycle in the regular freezer. So unless you have a container of liquid nitrogen and a -80C freezer, I wouldn't count on frozen BM for immune protection.

I think there's too much hype about H1N1 though. New flu strains come through all the time. An unvaccinated child is more likely to become seriously ill from an H. flu infection or the measles than from H1N1. So if you're already skipping vaxes for the most common childhood illnesses, I don't see why you should worry about H1N1 specifically, just because it's been in the news.

Good to know

And I agree with the second paragraph!