To help LO's when sick

[StrongFeather]

So I think Sam has a little cold.

I am a newbie here in the Mom and breastfeeding world, and want to do all I can to help him if he's a little sick(of course). So, I am assuming (??) that stuff I eat and take will help his immune system get stronger and help him fight his cold, am I right?

So normally when I am, sick I eat lots of garlic, lots of fluids, vit c. What else can I do for my baby? Will the above mentioned things even help him through my breastmilk?

Thought we could have a thread of ideas of ways to help our LO's when they get sick.

[2boyzmama]

I was taking garlic with my vitamin cocktail when I was sick recently, and I suspect that it was bothering Gavin. He had a lot of gas and reflux, plus had two days of straight-up colic (holy cow that was horrible, I hope NEVER to have a colicky baby again!!) I cut dairy and I stopped taking the garlic pills and he's back to being happy baby. I don't know for sure which one it was, but I've been letting small amounts of dairy back in my diet (not much, for example I dipped some chicken fingers in ranch dressing last night) and it's not bothering him. I also have not cut out the hidden dairy (there was probably some in the batter used on the chicken) and Gavin is still fine. So I think the garlic was bothering him.

I just wanted to warn you that if you see a change in Sam, it might be one of the supplements you're taking.

[kismetbaby]

don't know about the eating/breastmilk connection, but sitting in a steamy bathroom with them can be wonderful for little clogged noses. And its just soothing too.

[loriu]

nico had a cold at 3 weeks...and it's still lingering.

doc said not to aspirate him too much, as his tiny nose and nasal tissues are still forming and it could irritate more than help, so i'd only suck the snot in the AM when he woke up congested. i got saline drops (little noses) which she recommended but haven't used them. also, did the steamy bathroom thing,although not sure how much that helped.

been trying to get him outside a lot for fresh air, which is easy with a two year old who loves the playground.

think garlic supplement woudl translate to bmilk and make baby gassy. just try to keep yourself healthy. i think all our babes will have lots of colds this winter and there's not too muich we can do!

[StrongFeather]

i was thinking garlic might be a bad idea..good to know, glad I didn't make garlicy english muffins like I had planned ;-)