Tandem nurse sick 3yo w/ 2wo NB?

[OliveJewel]

DD is 2wo and DS is 3yo.  My first time tandem nursing.  DS picked up nasty bug which has phlegm-y chest-y cough with a brief fever in the beginning.  Def wd want to avoid NB getting that!  Wd u abstain from nursing 3yo while he was sick?  Older DS who is 6yo got it first and i thought that if i kept nursing 3yo he wdnt get it.  :rollseyes --no such luck!

[texasfarmom]

DS is probably better by now...I see it's been 5 days since your post, but FWIW I would continue to tandem nurse. The NB has already been exposed to the germs (not just from nursing, but in other ways as well I'm sure) and I see no harm in continuing. If it makes you feel better you can wipe your breast before nursing the nb, but I don't know if that will help much.

[Lady Love]

I just went through this twice. My three year old caught a horrible stomach flu and I stopped nursing him for a few days to try and keep my four week old from catching it. Eventually I felt sorry for him and started nursing him before it was gone. Sure enough she caught it right away, even though I washed my breasts between nursing the two. A few weeks later a cold was transmitted in the same way. Of course, nursing could have had nothing to do with it. He just caught a cold last week and this time I didn't nurse him while he was sick, which didn't seem to bother him much. Hope that helps, good luck.

[averlee]

In my experience, breastfeeding is not like sharing a cup. I'm sure there must be some microbes passing, but honestly, your nipples secrete all kind of antiseptic oils, and the immune benefits are so strong, I wouldn't hesitate to keep nursing both.