If I get sick with H1N1, I should still nurse...right?

[daisymommy]

I'm just getting all my research done, supplies on hand, etc. in case our family gets sick with the flu, specifically H1N1 virus.

I haven't done much BF related reading lately, so I'm foggy on the details. But I think I remember reading that if mom gets sick, she should still continue to nurse, right?

Is H1N1 too dangerous though, to be so close to babe, breathing on him? And wouldn't I pass the virus to him through my milk and get him sick (the same as if I had taken medication...it would go to him through my milk). I know we all talk about mom passing antibodies on to baby, but if I'm sick with the virus, then I must not have the antibodies to it, right? Or do I start making antibodies to it as soon as I'm sick with it? I wonder how long until that starts to happen?

Okay, so this says the virus is NOT passed through breastmilk. Good to know: http://aapnews.aappublications.org/c...s.20091012-1v1

Thanks for the info in advance

[Katie T]

Yes keep nursing! I have read to wear a mask when handling baby & nursing. Of course frequent hand washing w/soap & h2o. H1N1 has been threw our house it wasnt fun and 2 weeks later we are still feeling the effects but can see the end in sight. Good luck

[lifeguard]

We just had h1n1 & I definitely continued bfing throughout (omg - I cannot imagine how horribly difficult it would have been to deal with a sick baby without doing so).

Obviously with any flu you should take precautions such as handwashing & whatnot to avoid spreading it but for me to wear a mask when around my baby would mean wearing a mask day & night. Plus, for me, ds was already sick when we found out what it was I had.

[LionessMom]

even my doc said to continue bfing. you pass oon the antibodies you make. also the baby wont get as sick as everybody else if you are bfing. bfing is beautiful. if baby does get sick and has a stuffy nose, use the bm as a nasal saline solution.

[ErikaS57]

By the time you show symptoms, you'll have already exposed your LO so the best thing to do is to keep BF so you pass on the antibodies that your body is making.

[Heba]

YES! Everything the pps have said is spot on, especially Erika's statement: "By the time you show symptoms, you'll have already exposed your LO so the best thing to do is to keep BF so you pass on the antibodies that your body is making."

I always thought you began making antibodies as soon as your body recognises the foreign virus, but I'm not sure.

The NHS in the UK recommends continuing to breastfeed directly (my Internet is playing up, but there is a link to their policy statement on this forum somewhere).

Anecdote: when my son was a wee babe, I got the flu. I have never felt worse in my life. My daughter got the flu, my mum got the flu, and then my little little son got the flu. Of course I was terrified, having read the risk of complication in small babies, but you know what? He was the *least* ill of all of us thanks to the fab antibodies in my breastmilk.

[MadiMamacita]

just to add, yes to what pp's have said!

I'm pretty sure we had it this summer, and the bf babe was the least effected by it. i'm sure it was because of the bfing.

[Eligracey]

I've got H1N1 right now, so does DH and 10-month old DS. DS is the least sick of us all, probably from my breastmilk. He acts perfectly cheerful all day, packs away his solids, plays, just has tons of green snot and a bit of a cough. I felt sick as a dog at the worst part of it.

I was told to wear a mask but I had been taking care of him sick all day before I got diagnosed so I figured by then there wasn't any point.