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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To want actual hard facts: is it good for babies to get colds?

43 replies

tak1ngchances · 16/03/2015 19:53

My DM has been on & on at me to expose my baby (6 months old) to colds and other things "to build up her immune system".

Is this bollocks? I need actual facts here, not hypotheses or anecdata.

OP posts:

fizzycolagurlie · 16/03/2015 19:55

Well I think if she gets a cold which then leads to a chest or ear infection that's probably not going to be ideal. My DS had a terrible ear infection when he was 3 months old and could only sleep upright, as in propped up in my arms with me in a sitting position. That wasn't a barrel of laughs. And I can tell you it has done him no good. He is now 8 and catches everything going.

FastWindow · 16/03/2015 19:55

But there are no facts surrounding colds are there? Unless you are waiting for the Nobel medical prize winner to be an mner, you are going to get opinions mostly.

The only fact I know is that there is no immunity from a cold, no matter how many you've had.

Cariad007 · 16/03/2015 19:56

I have no idea but honestly, a baby being ill is utterly shite, both for them and for you. If they get a cold then chances are you'll get it too and looking after a baby when you're ill is exhausting, take it from me

They'll get plenty of bugs to boost their immune system when they start nursery or school so why would you want to expose them now?

Boomf · 16/03/2015 19:57

It's not good or bad ... It's just a thing isn't it? If your baby gets a cold then your baby gets a cold. It'll happen soon enough so I wouldn't actively seek it out.

Just smile and nod and don't dwell on it

Original poster

tak1ngchances · 16/03/2015 19:57

I mean does getting "things", eg colds, strengthen one's immune system...or is that just crap

OP posts:

YokoUhOh · 16/03/2015 19:58

Babies get colds whether they're good for them or not... I have a theory that a cold keeps the immune system ticking over but the idea of exposing anyone to a cold is a bit silly, your baby is going to pick up plenty over the course of a lifetime!

Original poster

tak1ngchances · 16/03/2015 19:59

She has just had a cold that played havoc with her feeding and sleeping and I am not going to see my sister whose kids both have bad colds. My mum is having a right go at me for this and saying my DD will struggle all her life (eye roll) if she is not exposed to germs from an early age

OP posts:

Purplepoodle · 16/03/2015 19:59

What does she mean expose? Are you pfb about her/him? If baby is crawling then they get lots of germ exposure anyway (my ds1 used to crawl along and lock floor at toddler group - grim)

Purplepoodle · 16/03/2015 20:01

If your sisters kids have bad colds surely they won't want visitors and be tucked up watching TV ect

Theknacktoflying · 16/03/2015 20:02

Exposing a baby to potentially rotten germs in the name of building immunity just sounds nuts!!

There is mothing you can do as an adult to boost your immune system so I doubt whether a. Aby would be any better at it!

MrsItsNoworNotatAll · 16/03/2015 20:02

I don't know if strengthens the immune system but it's shite for them and pretty much the same for you. Colds suck! Your baby will get one before long. You won't need to purposely expose her one, she'll just catch one.

MrsItsNoworNotatAll · 16/03/2015 20:04

And I wouldn't visit anyone with a cold because I would definitely catch it.

Original poster

tak1ngchances · 16/03/2015 20:04

Oh man.
There are no facts are there? I just want to be able to definitively say to my mum that she is right (but I don't want a sick baby so soon again thank you) or actually she is wrong and to let it go

OP posts:

museumum · 16/03/2015 20:04

I would guess based on documented cases of "first contact" with remote tribes killing them all with colds and flu that keeping a baby away from all germs could be bad for them.
But if you and the babies father are going out and about in the world and coming home to your dd then she will be encountering some germs.... Unless you genuinely have her in a sterile bubble???

parallax80 · 16/03/2015 20:05

Getting a "thing" in most cases generates an acquired immune response to that "thing". So if you meet it again, you either won't get the symptoms or will get a milder form.

Unfortunately, acquired immunity is relatively specific for particular "things", so in general getting Cold A won't affect your susceptibility to Urine infection A or Cold B. Also unfortunately the rhinoviruses, which often cause the common cold, are a big family of viruses and mutate often, which is why we all get lots of colds throughout life.

GoodbyeToAllOfThat · 16/03/2015 20:05

You don't need to go looking for colds, they'll come and find you.

Original poster

tak1ngchances · 16/03/2015 20:05

Ha no she is not in a sterile bubble. I wish our house could be described as such

OP posts:

huhpuh · 16/03/2015 20:05

A cold is a virus and each cold virus is different to every other one. So getting a cold and getting immunity from it will not prevent you from getting another cold - you just won't get that particular cold again. Chances are your sister's kids' colds are different to the one your LO had, so no immunity, which means another cold for you and yours. Getting immunity from particular colds also won't protect your LO from getting other viruses and bacterial infections, so your mum is talking bollocks, I'm afraid! It'll just make your life more difficult in the short term.

Frogswaaaa · 16/03/2015 20:05

God no!! My DS is much younger but we spent a week in ICU after he caught RSV from me. For me it was a simple cold, for him it was bloody nasty.

LauraMipsum · 16/03/2015 20:07

I think this sounds like bullshit.

As a PP said, you can't get immunity from the cold virus because it mutates so quickly - you get antibodies to protect you from the one you've just had but by the time the little fucker comes round again, those antibodies are worthless as you get a variation of the original. This is why there's no vaccine for the common cold.

It's not like mumps or something where you get immunity by having had it, because the antibodies are then in your system and ready to fight it if it comes back again.

So I think your mum is talking out of her blocked up nose and exposing your child to a cold virus will do nothing more than give your child a cold virus.

DoJo · 16/03/2015 20:08

Unless your mum is offering to come and look after her when she is all sad and snotty and deal with the lack of sleep, then she can keep her opinions to herself. If you don't want to do it, then that's up to you and she can keep her thoughts on the matter to herself.

RitaOrange · 16/03/2015 20:09

Your DC will get a cold and then be immune to that cold virus

It doesn't build your immune system against different cold viruses, chicken pox, measles or anything else.
I am actually laughing that your DM seems to think its like a firewall

TeWiSavesTheDay · 16/03/2015 20:10

Look up bronchiolitis - it's a complication babies can get from colds. My DD2 ended up in hospital for a week on a pressurized ventilator pushing oxygen into her lungs because she couldn't breathe properly by herself.

DD2 recovered fine but I am super cautious about babies and colds now!

Laquila · 16/03/2015 20:12

I empathise. I have a new strategy of saying something along the lines of "Hmm, I hadn't thought of it like that" (which is purposefully ambiguous) and then looking momentarily thoughtful before changing the subject.

ThatCuckingFat · 16/03/2015 20:13

My doctor once told me there are hundreds of different viruses that are classed as a common cold. If you catch one type it's unlikely you will catch that specific type again as your body will have built up an immunity to it. But then there are hundreds more, and viruses are always mutating. It's generally the reason why babies catch a lot of colds, as many as 10 in a year, and adults not so many, maybe 2 or 3, because adults are more likely to have been exposed to more types of cold viruses in the past.
So it won't really do your LO any good for you to try and make them catch as many colds as possible, it will just just make life unbearable for you and them. And your baby is likely to just catch colds anyway from normal everyday life, so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

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