Starting to wonder why i am breastfeeding

[AliceandtheGinormousBaps]

DS is just coming up to 4months and after getting the feeding established, has been going really well, with just the usual growth spurts/unsettledness etc.

However, i seem to have absolutely no immunity. In the last 6 weeks i have had a grotty cold that lasted well over two weeks and has triggered a return of my asthma which has been gone for 10yrs, a gastric flu bug which really affected my milk supply, and now we have flu.

I eat well and take vitamins (well, when i remember) get outside everyday and do light exercise. I should be healthy.

When i had DD i struggled to feed and i did not get even a sniffle in 18months! With DS i am feeding on demand, the weight is dropping off quickly but i am getting ill all the time, and then beause i am ill, DS is getting ill too.

I thought Bfing was meant to be good for us? Am i lacking in something?

Sorry you're ill, it sucks when you have a baby to look after all the time.

sounds grim alice but I'm not sure I'd attribute it to the bf. You deserve lots of sympathy though! Hopefully F won't get things too badly as he's getting antibodies in your milk

Sorry, feeling a bit sorry for myself DS is really suffering and i think DD is coming down with it too.

So, is there anything i can do/take to boost my immunity? I have heard about women who bf for a long time getting ill, but thought that was extended bf.

Garlic is super for immunity, I eat buckets of the stuff and catch about half a cold a year. The interweb will confirm this too. No idea re link to BF am afraid.

Alice are you taking a pregnancy vit?

This winter is crappy, everyone I know including me, DH and DS has got this hideous cold that goes on and on for weeks and you just feel like you want to be in bed. I'm sure that disrupted sleep doesn't help either!

Garlic is v.good, that and trying to get as much sleep as possible are the only things I can suggest!

Just a general multivit (for what it's worth) might look into pg ones, they might be better suited i guess.

Rather glad that DS started sleeping this week, as i would feel really shocking if i was dealing with sleep deprivation too!

DS has been really poorly today with it, just wimpering whenever he wakes, but he last woke about half hour a go and is much more like his normal self thank god!

I just feel that he drains me of everything, leaving very little for my body iyswim?

hmm, i agree the bfing is not to blame.

i was constantly sick when ds1 was a ffed baby. turned out i was anaemic. not anaemic and bfing ds2 and been fine, just 2 colds.

get checked plus thyroid

I am not anaemic, have always been borderline so get checked quite regularly.

Can you suddenly start having thyroid problems?

Alice AFAIK they can begin at any time. I would think your GP would be happy to run some blood tests if you really feel you aren't right.

You poor thing :(

At least while you're bfing your baby will get the antibodies you're making.

BM production is really efficient so shouldn't reduce your ability to ward off illness, but do your best to eat well and that's the best you can do. I don't think that echinacea has been shown to be safe (or unsafe) while BFing so I wouldn't take it personally.

thyroid, aye, my gp checks it at 6 wk check as pg/birth can be trigger.

Someone told me that babies get around 12 colds in their first year - to develop their immune systems.

After I had my first two - one ff and one bf I got a lot of colds/ sickness/ ear infections. Basically got them because I don't give birth to good sleepers and I was knackered. Dd2 is also not much of a sleeper but so far not so bad. Touch wood.