Can it be making his cough worse?

[heatherweh]

I hate to even have to ask thins, but DS (23 mos) has had a HORRIBLE cough for a couple weeks now, also double-ear infection and sinus infection which have cleared with treatment, but my concern here is if nursing could actually be making this worse? The thing is, he tend to have coughing fits more when I am nursing him and often spits up or throws up breastmilk (and other) afterwards. I am relieved to be able to offer him nummies since he has been sick and has no appetite and has been losing weight with all this going on, but on the other hand I worry that the breastmilk might be making his cough worse or upsetting his stomach or something. TIA!

[alegna]

Absolutely not. Best possible thing for him.

-Angela

[bandgeek]

No, it wouldn't make him worse. In my experience, the milk helps "clear them out" so to speak. My DS would always drain milk from his nose. And coughing isn't a bad thing. That's also helping to clear him out. The flow of milk might very well be triggering his cough reflex, but that's a good thing! Which is why I don't agree with cough suppressants...they keep your body from doing what it supposed to do. The vomiting...well if he has a bug, he's going to be sick anyways, might as well be throwing up something mild like your milk.

There's this thing about not drinking milk when you are sick...something about mucous. This doesn't apply to breastmilk. Breastmilk is a clear fluid. When formula fed babies or kids on cow's milk get sick, they are supposed to stop and do pedialyte instead. Breastfed kids don't need that stuff.

Beside all of that...he needs the antibodies in your milk.

[Kleine Hexe]

Originally Posted by bandgeek

There's this thing about not drinking milk when you are sick...something about mucous. This doesn't apply to breastmilk. Breastmilk is a clear fluid. When formula fed babies or kids on cow's milk get sick, they are supposed to stop and do pedialyte instead. Breastfed kids don't need that stuff.

Beside all of that...he needs the antibodies in your milk.

Yes, dairy can increase or irritate mucous. So on that note if you wanted you could cut out most of or all diary products from *your* diet until your ds is better. It doesn't hurt to try.

As others have said....your breastmilk is the best for him.

My ds had rotavirus when he was 14 months. When he was admitted to the hospital I was praised by all the nurses and the Dr for still nursing him. They all told me I was giving him the best medicine there is.

[Meg_s]

Well, my breastmilk caused a several month long cough in my son, but it was because *I* was eating dairy and he was reacting to it. Once I stopped all dairy he stopped coughing after a week, he also started to sleep a lot better.

[heatherweh]

Originally Posted by Meg_s

Well, my breastmilk caused a several month long cough in my son, but it was because *I* was eating dairy and he was reacting to it. Once I stopped all dairy he stopped coughing after a week, he also started to sleep a lot better.

Interesting! While I hate to give up my dairy, especially cheese- yum, maybe its worth a try. It might help me drop a couple lbs too :-)

[Meg_s]

Originally Posted by heatherweh

Interesting! While I hate to give up my dairy, especially cheese- yum, maybe its worth a try. It might help me drop a couple lbs too :-)

Yeah.. I've been dairy free for a long time now and found egg concoctions to be a good substitute for my most pressing dairy needs (cream in coffee lol) My 2nd son reacted very badly to dairy in my diet as well. He's 11 mos now and out of desperation and a bit of rebelliousness I've been eating cottage cheese (my love) for about a week now. He's coughing and has a runny nose but he's not "sick" so I can only assume it's my dairy. Damnit. Dairy is my perfect diet food, since I never get sick of it and cottage cheese works well as a weight loss tool for me, so versatile and proteiny and tasty.

You may find that you can eat Sheep's milk products without a reaction from your child... my boys can both eat sheep's yogurt. While they refuse the milk (because it's cold, and not sweet) I can drink it without a reaction from them. I'm thankful the sheep milk lady is only in town every 2 weeks because it is so delicious and creamy I drink the 3 litres all to myself and almost immediately (insert missing piggy emoticon here).

[Carita]

Originally Posted by heatherweh

Interesting! While I hate to give up my dairy, especially cheese- yum, maybe its worth a try. It might help me drop a couple lbs too :-)

I second the PP notion of giving up dairy to help with the cough. And while I enjoy the rice substitutes for milk and ice cream, I do miss the cheese, so I allow myself a little, but less than a serving of day, maybe just a bit of creamer or cheese or butter. And if I splurge, I also notice it immediately in my son's congestion. BUT shortly after I made the switch, I did lose that last few baby pounds. Everyone noticed & it was a great side effect

[heatherweh]

Originally Posted by Carita

I second the PP notion of giving up dairy to help with the cough. And while I enjoy the rice substitutes for milk and ice cream, I do miss the cheese, so I allow myself a little, but less than a serving of day, maybe just a bit of creamer or cheese or butter. And if I splurge, I also notice it immediately in my son's congestion. BUT shortly after I made the switch, I did lose that last few baby pounds. Everyone noticed & it was a great side effect

I hear that. I tried a vegan diet for a while, just to lose weight and it sure did work. No meat is super easy, no diary is very hard for me. How long would I have to go without to see a difference? I mean if no change for say, 2 weeks, then would it be safe to assume it wasn't dairy and go back to my moo-moo ways?

[Meg_s]

I'd say 2-4 weeks, it takes a while for dairy to get out of the system. Today is my last day (lol, again) of dairy, finishing up the cottage cheese...it was a good 2 weeks

[Carita]

Originally Posted by Meg_s

I'd say 2-4 weeks, it takes a while for dairy to get out of the system. Today is my last day (lol, again) of dairy, finishing up the cottage cheese...it was a good 2 weeks

I agree - and its possible allergy season is affecting him too, so maybe once the blooming is over, you can ease back into the milk. In other words, dairy might not be the cause of his current cough, but you should still see an improvement by eliminating it.

G/L!!