Talk me down - worried about newborn getting poorly

[postpartumanxious]

Baby is 6 weeks old. We just did the Christmas food shop early this morning in the hope to try and avoid people. DH was wearing baby in the carrier, baby’s head was turned slightly to the left hand side. Another shopper just ahead of us facing our way sneezed twice and looked to be full of cold, red in the face and streaming. He was about 10 feet away at this point but DH - oblivious - just walked straight past him a few seconds later, baby’s head was facing the way of the shopper but most of her face was sheltered behind the strap of the carrier.

I know it’s my fault for even taking baby into the shop but I am absolutely terrified of baby getting any kind of illness from this that could be serious. I have had my flu and RSV jabs but did not have the COVID jab. I am also breastfeeding so that should provide some immunity but I just can’t shake the fear because in my head it’s almost guaranteed that she will pick up whatever he had. We know a family whose baby ended up very unwell with complications from a simple cold and I know newborns don’t have much of an immune system and any infection is a lot worse for them than anyone else

DH says it’s a droplet infection, we’ve more chance of unknowingly touching a surface with it on and then giving it to her that way or the health visitor bringing it in to our house but in my mind there will have been spores and particles of whatever illness floating in the air if the man coughed there only 5 seconds before DH and baby walked past.

I feel like it’s going to ruin my day (week) and I just can’t relax for fearing the worst. I wish I could bubble wrap her. I know 5 years down the line I’ll probably read this and think it was mad but in the moment it feels very worrying.

Thank you if you read this far

Everybody worries about their newborn becoming unwell. Gently, it’s a little excessive to be so worried because you took her into a shop where somebody sneezed and your DP walked past. I’d be more concerned about the level of anxiety this has evoked and its maybe worth talking it through with your GP.

The change of picking up an illness from one invisible cloud of cough is pretty much zero surely, even extremely contagious, which colds aren't especially, don't transfer in such conditions

Your baby will be fine!

Also, children spend the first 3 years of their I'll, it is just part of building an immune system.

I always worried when mine were little too. The breastfeeding should really help. My husband got influenza when our firstborn was about a month old and luckily our breastfed baby didn't catch it.

Breastfeeding provides a lot of immunity, especially to infections they acquire from you as the milk contains antibodies to the illness.

It is totally understandable to be worried but, firstly, newborns are a lot more robust than they look. We are designed to coexist as a species with the normal pathogens around us.

And, secondly, thankfully, your baby is growing up in a society with medicine designed to help babies grow healthily to adulthood. If they do get sick, it is amazing what a modern hospital can do to either support them until they get better themselves or treat them in the case of (rare) bacterial illness.

Finally, upsetting though it is when your baby is ill, it is absolutely essential that their immune system is challenged for them to grow up healthily. Babies brought up in sterile environments often suffer from severe allergies. So, when they are under the weather, don’t beat yourself up about it; it is normal and ‘healthy’ for them to be sick sometimes.

Babies are exposed to germs from the moment they're born. It's always been this way. Especially if they have siblings. (Who lovingly slobber over them).

In the vast majority of cases, when a baby gets a cold, they just snuffle for a few days.

She probably won't catch it anyway.

Try and enjoy her. I understand it can be an anxious time.

Thank you. I am seeking help from the GP for anxiety. I just can’t deal with it at the moment when it’s about my baby.

That’s true. I just googled it stupidly and google says germs from sneezes can linger for up to 10 minutes in the air

So sorry you're feeling anxious, OP. It's horrible, isn't it. Please don't worry. Babies are really resilient. There wouldn't be any babies left if this sort of exposure killed them. Even if she gets a cold she'll be absolutely fine. I worried too, and my baby is 24.

Wishing you peace of mind ❤

Thank you this is so kind xx

Babies are resilient, they survived much worse than colds, covid and viruses. Yours will be ok, even in the unlikely event they do catch something!

Enjoy Christmas, and have a chat with your GP after x

Congratulations! At 6 weeks old they’re nolonger a new born. Being exposed to ‘germs’ is a vital part of developing a healthy immune system. MIL barely took DH out of the house during the first year due to her anxiety around him getting ill and he later developed an autoimmune disease, there is no way to know that this cased his long term illness but it may have. I in no way blame MIL but during lockdown I was concerned that my toddler wasn’t been exposed to general illnesses.

As kindly as possible....try not to worry. As your baby gets older you will realise they spend most of the time between Oct and Easter ill!

Speak to your GP about you anxiety and try not to let it take over your day to day life with going out and being happy.

My biggest advise - don't use Dr google. Yes you get facts but you also get the information to feed your anxiety. I swear my good search return the worst of the worst when I've looked at what can cause things or what symptoms mean. And I'm pretty sure it focuses your search results on what you have previously look at making looking at something simple a massive deal!