Will 8 week old bf baby be immune to big brother's chicken pox?

[Madcat22]

DS (3 yo) just developed chicken pox. Am worried about DD getting it but have been given conflicting advice about whether she still holds my immunity at 8 weeks old or whether exclusive bf keeps her safe. If she does get it I can't see that I can give her any meds etc to help with the symptoms as she is too young. Any advice gratefully received. We haven't had a good run of it with bugs and germs since she arrived (DS at nursery) and both she and I could do without chicken pox on top of everything else!

[NormHonal]

Supposedly bf does give some immunity, but my PFB caught it regardless, at around 16wo!

It was a very mild dose though, so perhaps bf immunity helped a bit. The good news about having it as a baby is they can't scratch. The bad news is that it can mess up their guts - we had weeks of green nappies and colic, which GP said was all linked to the pox.

Doctors always say that if they get it as a baby they can still catch it again, but it hasn't been the case for us.

With the benefit of hindsight, we got off lightly and chickenpox in DC1 as a baby was much easier than DC2 as a toddler. But of course chickenpox can cause nasty complications too.

Good luck! 8wo is so tiny, I hope she stays well for you.

[coldwater1]

My baby was 8 weeks old when my daughter had chicken pox, my 1 and 3 year old then caught it and my also came down with it at 11 weeks. She only had a handful of spots though. My 3 year old was very ill with it though!

[DeWe]

Dd2 had it really badly at 6 months while still fully breastfed. It may give immunity, but don't rely on it.

[Twit]

BabyTwit got mild chicken pox at about 8-10 weeks (exclusive bf). He was a bit grumpy but not ill IySWIM? Had about five small spots.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

My DS got it at 12 months and I was bfing. It was a super milk dose though and just made him grumpy for a couple of days. If she gets it, could you put a bit of bicarbonate of soda in her bath?

[MyNameIsAnAnagram]

Ds2 caught chicken pox from my shingles at 19w, he was ebf, so probably not I'm afraid.

[tholeon]

My Dd caught it from my ds when she was just under five weeks, I was adviced to take her to a and e in case she needed meds, but as she was over four weeks old she didn't need them. I did loads of research at the time and I think the conclusion was that as long as you have had it yourself they should be ok, even without breast feeding. She was fine in the end, just a few spots. Best of luck, it isn't what you need, we had the norovirus then chickenpox just after dd was born!

[Janek]

I think she'll catch it too, my dd1 had it at 2.10 and gave it to dd2 who was 16 weeks. Dd1 was just a bit poorly and felt better with calpol, dd2 was a little ball of misery, she didn't know what had hit her, she had so many spots and was really sorry for herself.

She also got loads of spots where her nappy was, the doc said to keep the nappy off as much as possible, but she was ebf so i didn't fancy that. Then her bum spots got infected and i had to keep her nappy off. I was not at all zen when she pooed while i was holding her.

The only saving grace is that it's out of the way now. She was so poorly i cant believe she could get it again, and she hasn't so far (quickly grabs wood).

[offblackeggshell]

DD3 got it at 3 week, ebf. Relatively mild though.

[tholeon]

Madcat22 how is your Ds doing?

Can I just ask those whose dc had it as tiny babies whether they have in fact remained immune? My dd, who had it at 5 weeks, has just had a big exposure to it and am wondering if she will get it again!

[Janek]

My dd hasn't had it again and is now 5.4, she had it at 16 weeks. Fingers crossed...

[Domple]

I hope DC is ok, but I think that it is possible to catch chickenpox from sibling at this age. My advice would be watch out for symptoms in coming weeks.

A word of caution if your DC does catch it, my DD had it before a year old and only had a mild case and then caught it again at 3 years old as I think that under a year childrens immune system is not fully developed.

On a positive note she does not remember either time so it is better if they catch it when they are pre school.

[BudsBeginingSpringinSight]

yes mine caught it inspite of me BF.

[Tambajam]

Yes. I had it myself at 12 quite badly. Despite ebf, my 4 month old caught it from her 3 year old brother. She was very spotty but otherwise didn't seem very bothered.

[IDontDoIroning]

My dc got it at 3 months - from 2 1/2 yo older sibling. They were ebf at the time. Had only a few very small spots though and wasn't unwell at all and I assumed that having had it myself that they did benefit from the antibodies in the breast milk.

When younger sib got it 2 years later I did wonder if they would catch it again but although they were under the weather for a couple of days around the time the spots should have come out out no actual spots developed. Obviously I don't know for sure as I'm not a doctor but I suspect that this was her immune system fighting it off so it never fully developed.

[BiscuitMillionaire]

My DS got chicken pox when my DD was 3 weeks old. She didn't get it (unless it was so mild that we didn't notice - certainly no spots). I was very relieved, as the HV had scared the bejeezus out of me.