breastfed baby and colds?? was it all worth it?

[scotsgirl]

iv breastfed my dd for 6 months and i thought breast was supposed to be best?? she has constantly got the cold. i thought being breastfed would make her immune to a lot of stuff but she seems to pick up everything going. i have recently changed to formula but this isnt a new thing. iv been wondering if all my hard work was worth it???

 

[Cookie1979]

I dont think it makes them immune to colds, all babies need to catch them to build up an immunity, I think though if you catch a cold and then breastfeed your baby the immunity you build up should in theory get passed to your baby.

I'm formula feeding and so far by baby has not caught a cold once, infact he is thriving, he's in the 98th percentile for his height...takes after his daddies family with being tall. Seeing him thrive makes me feel less bad that he's not being breastfed...it wasn't a choice, I pretty much produced no milk.

 

[lucy_x]

I bHave breastfed from day one, and can honestly say (except for teething rashs/fevers) My LO has not had a cold or any other illness.
Lets be frank it wasnt PROMISED that BFing would prevent against colds. it was just that in most cases it did by passing on the mothers immunity, If you have had every cold going, Its most likely your baby will have done, just in a milder form

Iv been lucky, everyone else in the house has had something, except me and the baby.

Have you had hard work the whole 6 months BFing?

 

[CocoaOne]

My LO has pretty much had a constant cold since she was 5 months (from Sept til now)

BUT

She's never had a tummy bug/vomitting & diarrhoea, which is much more serious for babies than the common cold. I know plenty of babies (FF) that have caught tummy bugs and have been poorly for ages and lost a lot of weight. I'm grateful that by BF, I've lowered the chance of my LO suffering that.

BF only ever lowers the chances of illness, it can never promise that your child will never fall ill

 

[Celesse]

If I get ill first then my LO hardly suffers at all as I make antibodies to the bug we have and pass them onto her in the milk. If LO gets ill first then she has to make her own antibodies or wait for me to get the bug as well.

 

[marymoomin]

I have bf and neither of us have had a thing! I have never had winter without something!

 

[jess_smurf]

she didnt catch a thing for ages only when she started to wean to caught a cold i had, tbh i wasnt that careful, but had it very very midly to the point it didnt effect her day to day

it also helps in the long term to prevent other infections and also eczema and other things

but is a small benefit compare to the others on the list x x

 

[aob1013]

However a child is fed, some are more immune to illness than others.

Leni is breastfed and has never been ill, another breastfed friends bay is ill all the time.

The statistics still prove a breastfed baby is less likely to get ill.

 

[anna matronic]

Evan has never been ill, except for a bout of conjunctivitis which doesn't count! He's been snotty at times and even more so cos of his reflux but has never had a proper cold or any kind of bugs/ear infections/whatever x

 

[jess_smurf]

just like to add there were many occasions that she could have caught something but didnt only caught my cold midly xx

 

[trynitey]

We've had a ton of colds here it seems. I feel like since 4mos he's only had a month total of not being sick. Twice he got sick within 12hrs of his shots, and I think the shots were related. The other times, my oldest DD has brought something home and I always get it last, preventing me from being able to give him the antibodies he needs to make it work in his favor.

Even though DS is breastfed, he's already had more colds in 3mos than my 2 DD's did their entire first year of life and they were formula fed. However, I don't think it's a breastfed/formula fed issue. I just think it's because I have 2 preschoolers that bring things back into the house from school and friends.

 

[kelly29]

winter months you cant avoid i rekon no matter what i struggle cause of the other kids bring everything in from school but recently ova xmas we all had flu and lo was only a few wks old she did get ill, but not as ill as my other children they all suff with high temp i was dreading lo getting really poorly but most surely i think it was down to bf her .
i'm not sure when you stop but hopefully when lo is older she wont get as ill as my other kids do i ff them so i'm waiting to see if she gets everything going..or not much xx

 

[disneyfan1984]

Alayna has gotten a cold - but it was super mild and only bothered her for a day or two (and only when she was sleeping).

Breast is best, but not just for immunity from sickness - for a million other reasons. Rest assured you are giving your LO the best start!