Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

My 3yo has his first proper cold...should I stop weaning him and go back to full time BF?

21 replies

Flighttattendant · 09/10/2010 08:25

Ds2 is 3 and a quarter. A few weeks ago he had a bottle of cows milk for the first time, and I took the opportunity to start cutting back on breastfeeds which had been relatively frequent up until now.

He is still feeding at night but has been having a couple of bottles a day as well.

This last few days he's had a cold and last night he was coughing. He's never had a cold before apart from the flu we all had when he was 1, 2 years ago.

I feel terrible. I'm wondering whether I should stop the cows milk (think it helps mucus production?) as he has been refusing it anyway, and go back to breastfeeding in the day as well as night.

Any advice welcome. I feel like I've made him ill. This may be way out of proportion but I really don't have a clue.

Thanks.

OP posts:
Original poster
Flighttattendant · 09/10/2010 08:26

Fwiw he just started preschool as well but he managed to avoid the colds ds1 brought home until now.

OP posts:
cupofteaplease · 09/10/2010 08:29

Why do you feel terrible that he has a cold? Confused All children get colds and he is lucky to have made it to 3 without one!

Just to be nosey, why did you give him milk in a bottle at 3? Surely he can manage a cup by now?

StealthPolarBear · 09/10/2010 08:31

He is going to get colds - amazed he hasn't had one yet! I don't think it's a reason to stop weaning if it's otherwise going OK.
If you don' want to give him cows milk, would he take just water for a couple of days?
Hope he's better soon :)

Original poster
Flighttattendant · 09/10/2010 08:32

He won't have it from a cup, not at home...the bottle is an attempt to replace the comfort aspect of BF. I know it's faintly ridiculous at 3.

I feel bad because I suspect being BF'd has helped him with his immunity so far iyswim.

As soon as I stop it he gets ill.

I can't help but make the link.

OP posts:
Original poster
Flighttattendant · 09/10/2010 08:33

Thanks Stealth, no, he doesn't want water. He is very fussy....sadly.!

Hopefully he will be ok in a day or two and we can carry on.

OP posts:
cupofteaplease · 09/10/2010 08:34

I can see why you have made the link, but it is probably more likey that he's picked something up from being around other children at Preschool. It is 'that' time of year!

Don't blame yourself Smile

Original poster
Flighttattendant · 09/10/2010 08:35

Thanks...feel slightly better! Smile

OP posts:
StealthPolarBear · 09/10/2010 08:38

:(

Original poster
Flighttattendant · 09/10/2010 08:39

! It's Ok Stealth! here, have one of these Smile

OP posts:
StealthPolarBear · 09/10/2010 08:42

you've just reminded me of the mummy guilt. DS used to get really bad recurrent ear infections, and at one point i found out they can be caused by liquid pooling in the ears if they drink lying down - so of course I decided it was all my fault and I must wean at once.

Porcelain · 09/10/2010 08:43

Your antibodies in bm will help him get better. That said he is still getting that at night, and It's not really eorth messing with the weaning process over a cold.

JFly · 09/10/2010 08:45

I would have thought starting nursery would be the red flag, not the cow's milk or weaning from BF. Direct exposure to kids with colds is probably far more likely to result in a cold than second hand exposure from his brother.

You are lucky to have escaped colds so far. I EBF for 20 months and my DS had a handful of colds and one or two ear infections in that time. He is still quite "healthy" comparatively, and has just started nursery at 2.5 (no colds so far). I know other EBF kids who have been sick more than FF kids. It's not a direct relationship: BF equals healthy, FF (or weaned kids) equals gets sick.

Immunity isn't just switched on and off. You've given him 3 years of goodness, which (has and) will serve him well. Genetics and physiology are factors, too, so don't think BF is the only factor here. And there are some particularly nasty virus that make the rounds and we ALL are likely to get them.

As for the cow's milk, maybe give him some diluted fresh juice or water instead, b/c you are right about mucus. And of course you can go back to BF if you want to, but it sounds like you'd like to wind in down. Up to you, but I wouldn't worry too much about the cow's milk. I would suggest a cup, though, too. Why not get one with a soft lid? Better than bottle at this stage, I would have thought.

Original poster
Flighttattendant · 09/10/2010 08:58

Stealth Sad arghh the guilt. I know.

Porcelain - thankyou. Jfly - you've articulated what I think was buzzing round my head in a million invisible particles, a bit like the TV room in Charlie and the chocolate factory Smile

I plan to get him onto a cup asap, he has one at preschool, just not here yet - he's beginning to understand that he can manage without mummy's boobs, and actually went to sleep without last night - I gave him some milk from the bottle, under some duress, and left the room for about a minute to come back and find him completely conked out Smile I think that was your idea stealth!

His big bro got addicted to a bottle at 16mo, and still would have one at 7 if I hadn't stopped it...I just want the sleep problem solved so I can reclaim my breasts! But hoping we can carry on with the stopping anyway.

Thanks so much for all your help and wisdom and sensibleness. I lack it a bit on a saturday morning esp when I've been fed from since 3am Grin

OP posts:
driedapricots · 09/10/2010 08:59

i've BF ds since birth - he's 10 weeks and had a cold for 8 of those weeks...my milk must be rubbish!

wastingaway · 09/10/2010 09:09

Aw bless you.

I have discovered that I have to be more bold with change than I think DS is up to, but of course they're all different.

StealthPolarBear · 09/10/2010 14:08

It was, yes, glad it worked!
da hope your baby is fully over it soon - it's really hard when they're tiny and snuffly!

Bobbiesmum · 10/10/2010 00:31

I ebf both my children (dd now 3 still occasionally feeds), ds 10 months ebf and I swear to god they have a cold every 3 weeks. Ds has had 9 hospital admissions with bronchiolitis and uti . Can't seey breast milk did much good'

wastingaway · 10/10/2010 00:32

Might have been worse if you hadn't been bfing though Bobbiesmum.

Bobbiesmum · 10/10/2010 01:06

That's what one lovely nurse at hospital said, doesn't feel like it could be much worse though to us! Anyway I'm too lazy/exhausted for bottles so breast it is!

Mishy1234 · 10/10/2010 09:52

Constant colds here atm too I'm afraid. DS2 is 4 months and ebf and his brother is 2.7 and still feeds and they both have had horrible colds for a couple of weeks now. They just seem to get rid of one and another comes along.

Hope your DS gets better soon OP. I would just carry on bf and go with the flow as much as possible until he improves. DS1 always ups his bf frequency when he's sick and then it goes back down to morning/evening when he's better.

systemsaddict · 10/10/2010 10:01

Both mine got loads more colds the first winter after they weaned, ds was 1 (self-weaned at 11 mo.) and dd is 2 (weaned with a great deal of encouragement at 2). I did assume there was probably some link between this and stopping bf, but absolutely wouldn't feel guilty about it - I saw it as getting colds was the next step in developing their immune systems and building up antibodies.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page