To co sleep with a fever?

[Palmface]

My baby is 12 days old. I am safely co sleeping, feeding her on a side lie. No blankets or pillows anywhere near her etc. But I have mastitis. First day of antibiotics, I'm taking paracetamol and ibuprofen but I have a 38.2 ⁰ fever. Is this safe?

No smoking or drinking etc and not in between adults.

I would've thought this isn't unsafe OP and you say you do cosleeping safely and just because you're rather hot, doesn't mean your baby will be too.
Take it easy, I imagine it's hard work being unwell with a young baby, soon you'll be better again xx

Do you feel unwell? Likely to fall into a very deep sleep? If not, I would continue to co sleep following all the guidance
feeding as much as possible from the affected breast will also help the mastitis
combing the affected breast (gently and with a wide toothed comb) in the direction of the blockage in a hot shower is also helpful

Thanks for the replies. I'm feeling terrible but unlikely to fall into a deep sleep given the pain and having baby close .

Thanks @rubyslippers for the comb advice I've not heard that one so will give it a go.

It's night time where I am, so hopefully can sleep this thing off

Ah feel better soon!

Perfectly safe. Echoing advice to feed as much as possible from the affected breast. Dipping it in a basin full of hot water can also help. Rest as much as is possible and keep an eye on the redness – if it starts to spread, go straight to GP or call 111.

I co sleep and feed laying down over night. However I tend to get blocked ducts if I don’t remember to change sides/ he doesn’t feed well. With mastitis it might be better to sit up to feed to try and ensure a really good feed and latch.

mastitis is miserable so I hope it clears quickly for you x

The comb in the shower was a game changer. Plus massage with shower gel stuff.

I think the antibiotics have started to kick in, feeling slightly more human today.

Really dumb question but when you switch sides do you move baby to the other side of you? I don't do that as dh is on the other side in bed and then it wouldn't be safe to be between us. How do you do it?

I used to swap so my feet were where my head had been. After a couple of weeks we all got sick of that and DH went to sleep on sofa where he spent the next year 😬

Make sure you aren’t feeding on one sode too much, it’s so easy to change your baby’s face shape when they’re tiny. I’m sure this is why my baby’s cheekbones ar slightly different to each other yet were the same when he was born.

Have you, for blocked ducts, tried pressing an electric toothbrush against the blockage (switched on, obviously)? A breastfeeding helpline suggested that to me and it helpd I think.

I always swapped the baby over when I turned over. DP on the sofa as pp. Key to maximising sleep for all is booting out Dad asap!

I think I will boot him out. He's been a bit funny about being sent to the spare room with previous babies (this is dc3), but he'd get more sleep that way too.

I used to swap to the other side of baby. This is baby 2 and I have the hang of just leaning over further so baby can reach the other boob. Takes a bit of practice! Do need to be careful not to block baby’s nose with your boob. I barely wake to feed though which is handy.

The guidance on treating mastitis has recently changed and not many people are aware, including GPS and in fact the NHS website is still to be updated!

The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine now recommend cold compresses over warm (or the advice I was once given to take a bath as hot as I could bear). Pain from mastitis is largely due to the inflammation and heat can actually make this worse.
We also used to be told to express and feed as much as possible. This is now discouraged as you can end up increasing supply, becoming engorged and therefore create more swelling and pain. The advice now is to carry on feeding on demand or expressing as you already were.
And finally, gentle massage is still recommended. Not the firm kneading of the breasts that we used to be told helps, but gentle massage from the armpit to the breast, to help drain fluid.
I hope you’re feeling better OP, mastitis is utterly miserable!

I was told exactly the same as @Pjsandhotchoc recently. There’s a great insta account about mastitis called yourtwojugs which explains all the recent advice & why it’s changed.

I started cosleeping when I had Covid & was on my knees with tiredness & a poorly baby. I wouldn’t avoid for a fever ❤

I’ll give that page a follow, thank you.
I think social media accounts (the accounts run by IBCLCs or other evidence based professions) have been an absolute game changer in providing up to date breastfeeding information! So many healthcare professions are quite often, I guess due to lack of training, providing misinformation or out of date advice.