HELP - 7-week old baby and sick older toddler

[Razz2525]

I am back at work today and this morning my older son, a 3-year-old toddler, has come down with a somewhat nasty sounding cough. I'm thinking, "just my luck," the pediatrician said that if DS# 2 who is only 7 weeks old, gets sick under 2 months of age, he will automatically go into the hospital. He's one week shy of the milestone (not sure if it's 8 weeks old or 2 months - his 2 month birthday is December 11th techincally) and now he's at risk.

Anyway, I'm pumping at work today and plan to freeze tonight. I've been directing DH to give the baby the older stash first but should I make an exception and give him the milk from today since it may already have the antibodies necessary to fight off my older son's illness?

I hope I'm making sense here... I'm really in kind of a panic and was really upset to have to leave the house this morning. I would've preferred to breastfeed him all day.

[jeliphish]

I would do the milk from today. I think the baby will be fine... Our 3 year old has battled two nasty viruses and the babe has been fine. I work and pump too and bf at night.

[sunshynbaby]

Fresh is best always (it has the most nutrients), especially when anyone in your household is sick. I use fresh everyday with only one frozen a week to rotate my stash.

[GoldmanBaby09]

I would actually be more concerned about a ped who would hospitalize for any illness like that. Coughs and colds are common this time of year and the best place for a sick bf baby is home with mom, not a hospital where they could be exposed to all kinds of things and invasive tests. I would probably find another doctor.

Definitely use the freshest milk!

[Razz2525]

Curious, then - when do you pump for your stash? I'm pumping maybe 3x at work, but I really don't get that much (maybe 3oz per pumping session). I plan to give at least 8oz to either DH or daycare each day and I see that I'm quickly losing my stash, especially if I give DS the fresh BM instead of freezing it now. Unfortunately, I'm not one of those moms who gets 10oz from one side and 5 from the other. I'm getting barely 1 oz from one side and 3 usually from the other each session! Should I just choose 1 pumping session per day to add that to the freezer?

[3girls1boy]

Yes, automatic hospitalization sound a little weird to me. The more kids I had the sooner the baby got sick, just because there were more germs coming into the house. Unless your baby has an underlying condition, or your older child is definitely diagnosed with something serious, I would question that. Usually, the baby is the one to get the mildest case of anything going around the family, because of the antibodies in the milk.

Everything will probably be fine, but I would agree that giving the baby the freshest milk and nursing lots when at home would be a good idea.

Jeanne
(mom to 17,14, 12 and 8 year old)

[SFam]

Originally Posted by GoldmanBaby09

I would actually be more concerned about a ped who would hospitalize for any illness like that. Coughs and colds are common this time of year and the best place for a sick bf baby is home with mom, not a hospital where they could be exposed to all kinds of things and invasive tests. I would probably find another doctor.

Definitely use the freshest milk!

my three month old had a cold at 3 weeks and has had two since then. my 2 year old has had the same three colds lately. it's quite annoying, but it's not life threatening. as long as your baby continues to nurse, poop and pee, there shouldn't be a problem!

[OperaDiva]

My baby had 2 colds before 2 months, and I didn't even call the pedi because I knew he would be fine. You really shouldn't even call unless babe has a temp over 100.4 farenheit, acts lethargic, or your Mommy instinct says something is really wrong. I agree that it's really odd that the ped hospitalizes every baby with even a slight cold.

[tykys]

I'm in the same situation. My DS is 9 weeks old (3 weeks adjusted, as he was 6 weeks early), and my DD (5) has something quite nasty. I've just tried to seperate them as much as possible and BF BF BF.

It's not a fun time of year!!