Ack! I have a cold and a 12 day old baby! Will she get it?

[henny penny]

I think I am coming down with a cold and Catherine is 12 days old. Will she get immunity from my breastmilk before she gets my cold? Ordinarily I wouldn't freak out over this but she is only a tiny one and when leaving the hospital they issued the standard warning about staying away from crowds, etc because "if she gets a virus, she'll be in the hospital". What do I do?

[HonkyTonka]

As I understand it, if your body is fighting the virus, the antibodies should be passed to your baby, giving her immunity - or fighting the virus for her, through your milk. I'd give your own body the best shot at fighting the illness though, with rest (HA!) and fluids.

Good luck and feel better!

[tippy]

Originally Posted by henny penny

I think I am coming down with a cold and Catherine is 12 days old. Will she get immunity from my breastmilk before she gets my cold? Ordinarily I wouldn't freak out over this but she is only a tiny one and when leaving the hospital they issued the standard warning about staying away from crowds, etc because "if she gets a virus, she'll be in the hospital". What do I do?

yes! i was actually reading dr. sears breastfeeding book yesterday, and there was a section in there about nursing when you have a cold. the answer was to continue nursing b/c your LO will get the antibodies to fight the cold from your BM.

hope you feel better!

[maygee]

Well, i was in your sitch, and she got my cold. Poor thing is stuffy. I asked the doc at her 5 day check up ( in case she did get it, she wasn't sick then) and she just said as long as there is no fever, saline was the way to go, so we've just been checking her temp and doing the saline. I'm hoping my antibodies make it somewhat easier for her to fight this off. It's hard to see such a little having to be sick.

[henny penny]

Thanks everyone. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and I'm going to start taking her temp every 12 hours or so. I feel like crud.