So why, when BFing is meant to boost immunity...

[giddykipper]

, has DS been ill pretty much constantly for the last few months? From chest infestion to ear infection to conjunctivitis to second ear infection. He's just a bug magnet bless him.

[Umlellala]

yup, i know the feeling. i just like to think that he might have been much worse if not bf...

[thisisyesterday]

BF children have better immunity overall than FF children.
that doesn't mean that ALL breastfed babies will be immune to everything or never get ill.

there will always be some who seem to suffer a lot, just as there will be some FF babies who never seem to get ill.

and would agree, that it could have been a lot worse had he not been BF, think of it that way round

[christMAScomesbutonceayear]

is probably just bad luck - ds was ff and is seldom ill

[believer07]

Vaccines?

[lindenlass]

Fomula milk can damage immune systems - that's how it works. So if he's getting ill a lot and is bfed, he'd potentially (not definitely) get more ill, more often, if he weren't bfed! Frustrating though. My DD1 was bfed until she was 2y7m and she suffered from childhood asthma, for goodness sakes!

[ChristmasDisco]

I know how you feel, DD2 is exactly the same. She gets everything going however DD1 gets nothing, both were breast fed for the same length of time.

[chequersandroastedchestnuts]

I didn't know formula milk could damage immune systems, I just thought that breastmilk could build strong immune systems.

Althugh I know about increased risk of gastroenteritis etc from bottles.

[StealthPolarBear]

DS gets everything going, had a D&V bug on and off for 6 weeks when he was 1. Even now he's just getting over a cold, conjunctivitis, again! and has a snotty ear that is puzzling the medical profession. Without bf, presumably he would have ebola or some little known bug found only in an Amazonian tribe

[goldFAQinsenceandmyrrh]

oh I frequently thought the same when DS2 (FF) breezed through babyhood with barely a runny nose, when DS1 (BF) had been at the doctors everything month with a chest infection.

[LucyEllensmummy]

Formula milk does NOT damage immune systems!! In fact many of them contain "stuff" that is believed to boost the immune system. What formula milk cannot provide though is the mothers immunity. What you are passing to your child in breast milk is antibodies that you have. These are the things that recognise "foreign" things in the body and set up an immune response. The baby will have its own antibody factory, but you only produce antibodies to a particular pathogen, be that the flu virus or a tummy bug causing bacteria, or the cold, once you have encountered it yourself - next time your body encounters these bugs, it is able to mount a quicker and more effective response, hence the "immunity". So by passing your antibodies in your breast milk to your baby you are giving him a head start, but sadly this doesn't mean he will be immune to everything. I hope that makes sense.

My DD was BF and FF at the same time (i had problems producing but did this for six months) and i have to say she has a pretty strong immune system of course, now she has started nursery it seems to be tried and tested on a weekly bases, and then passed straight on to me

[chequersandroastedchestnuts]

LEM (good to see you back btw) that's what I thought.

[fishie]

i always like to think of minor infections which are fairly quickly fought off as helping to build a healthy immune system, regardless of how chidlren are fed.

although i believe that bf mother's body will quickly identify the bug and convey an attack back through the milk as well as conferring their own immunities. making bf mothers less likely to be ill.

[frasersmummy]

lindenlass formula does not damage immune systems.. if it did it wouldnt be on sale..

this kind of post just makes ffing mothers feel like a failure

[angel1976]

Giddykipper, how old is your DS? My DS was constantly ill from 7 months onwards and he just caught one bug after another after another. He's just turned 10 months and has been 'bug-free' - touch wood! - for two weeks. It was so frustrating that just as we thought we were over something, he caught something else. The doctor says that the mother's immunity that passes on to a baby wears off after about 6 months and that's when they catch lots of stuff in order to build up their immunity. It's good for them in the long term but it's hard going through it isn't it!

[goldFAQinsenceandmyrrh]

fishie - seemed to work for me - I was rarely ill when DS1 was little, unfortuantely my breast milk seemed to sod all to help him - I think he had more antiobiotics in the first 2yrs of his life than DS2 (5), DS3 (18 months) and I have had in 8yrs since he was born

[Umlellala]

True. I was v ill and rundown with dd but been remarkably ok this time... (good job, ds has been crying and awake pretty much since yest)

breastmilk is great for when I feel a stye coming too!

[Reallytired]

This is a very sad link. The poor baby had a condition that was imcompatible with life as he had no immune system. However exclusive breastfeeding did keep him alive longer than expected.

breastmilk the white blood

I think it shows that breastfeeding does make a difference, but the strength of the immunity system is also down to luck.

[Reallytired]

lol... If you are going to worry about the virgin gut then my sister in law's youngest child must have had her gut b*ggered.

When the baby was six weeks old her four year old asked why the baby was crying and the mother said that she was hungry. The four year old then proceeded to try and feed crisps to the six week old baby. As you can imagine my sister in law completely and utterly flipped.

However, other than a lick of a crisp the child was exclusively breastfeed until 6 months. She is now a healthy three year old and shows no signs that licking a crisp at six weeks has harmed her.

[thisisyesterday]

yes, but I think it only takes sometyhing like 2 weeks of exclusive breastfeeding to repair the virgin gut.
so for example, if a baby was given formula or whatever a few times and then mum decided to fully breastfeed then the effect to the gut would be reversed because the BM would build up the good bacteria and the protective lining in the gut

[LucyEllensmummy]

I am not quoting an advert - I was merely refering to the various vitamins included in formula feed. However, my point was that Formula does not in any way damage the immune system. Nothing is equal to breast milk in lots of ways - it is by far the best, but actually Formula is a fecking good alternative, brilliant even.

Im not quoting the telly, or wikepedia or any other website, im just taking my knowledge from my Biochemistry BSc and Genetics PhD.

I am pretty sure too that the effects on the gut of changing to formula would be the same as changing any diet drastically. I am not 100% on this though.

I think the OP was just having a general moan about her poorly chap, and yes, i get most put out when my baby gets sick as i bf for six months, but i also know thats daft

[LucyEllensmummy]

butterfly - i'll fight you for the salted popcorn by the way