Immune deficiencies in second child?

[Amy Lachney]

I'm not sure where to ask this, but I am just curious if two close together pregnancies can result in less than stellar breast milk for baby number two? I breastfed my daughter for a year, and got pregnant when she turned 10 months old. She didn't have her first runny nose until well after she was a year old. My son is now a year old, and he has had sinus infection after sinus infection. When my daughter gets a runny nose for three days, he gets it for at least a week. He had a sinus infection almost every three weeks for the first 6 months! I had a phenomenal immune system prior to having my daughter, so I am wondering if my immune system didn't have time to fully recover between pregnancies, and the milk the second time around is not as protective? Just curious if anyone has experienced this, or if it's a real thing, or it's just because they are two different kids!

[Asiago]

Since maternal stores take time to recover from pregnancy, birth, and lactation, maybe it could effect milk supply for the next baby. Six months or more after weaning is often reccomended before becoming pregnant, so that mother can rebuild her maternal stores, then 3-5 years between births. I can understand your curiosity in this matter but I think it is great that you are breastfeeding and giving your baby the over all immune advantage of breastmilk. The info below may be of help (or not).

http://health.utah.gov/mihp/pregnancy/preged/afterpreg/Pregnancy_Spacing.htm

http://www.rhcatalyst.org/site/DocServer/Birth_Spacing_Research_Update_USAID_12-30-02_Final.pdf?docID=162

[CookAMH]

I've been interested in this myself, including the examination of how a mother feels in pregnancy depending on how close the kids are or how well her nutrient stores were replenished through diet, before getting pregnant again. Pregnancy and nursing is a huge drain of nutrients for the mother, and it's hard work to restore oneself to have enough to "give" to another baby. You could improve both you and your son through adding nutrient dense foods to your diet, such as quality full fat dairy, cod liver oil, plenty of fat, organ meats (or organ pills if you don't like taste), pastured eggs, and more. If interested, you could post on the Traditional Foods board for some other suggestions.