33 Words: 7 How to Breastfeed if you are Sick

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It can be challenging to breastfeed if you are sick. You may just want to lie in bed all day or be afraid of getting the baby sick. It can be difficult to know what is right to do. Fortunately there are different techniques that might be able to help you with breastfeeding while you are sick. The following are some of these strategies.
In most cases, you should continue to breastfeed
The first question many new moms have is whether they should continue to breastfeed if they are sick. The answer is almost always yes. Breastfeeding is extremely important for the child, helping to stave off infections, promoting brain development and keeping the baby healthy and strong. Your body knows how much milk to make partly from how much the baby takes. If you suddenly stop nursing, you might stop producing as much milk. This can affect your milk supply, and it can take along time to get thing back to where you were (if you can). There are things you can do to help avoid your baby getting sick as will be discussed below but typically you should not interrupt breastfeeding. The exception would be some sort of unusual illness that was very dangerous. If you have questions about whether you have something special that would warrant such a drastic action, you should call the pediatrician.
Try to avoid breathing on the baby
Many colds are transmitted through breathing or coughing on a person. You should try to avoid doing this to your child. It can obviously be challenging since they have to be so near in order to breastfeed. One thing you can do is to wear a mask. This can help avoid getting the baby sick. Another things you can do is wear a shawl or keep a blanket or cloth over the baby so that he or she does not get your direct air. Obviously, make sure there are places for the baby to breathe. You might also want to turn away from the direction of the baby’s face and try to avoid breathing on him or her.
Keep clean
It’s amazing how much simply washing your hands can go to preventing the spread of germs. Wash them before your breastfeed. Also, you may want to be careful when you breathe or sneeze while breastfeeding that you do not spread germs to your breast where the baby will feed.
If you put the baby on a chair or bed where you have been, put a towel or blanket under him or her
This may help to avoid germs spreading up from somewhere where you have been lounging.
Updated On: 03/15/2010 Published On: 03/15/2010 Things you should splurge on when pregnant