Do I stop BF whilst on antibiotics? Help please.

[Felicie]

Hi- I have a UTI and the doctor prescribed antibiotics (amoxicillin)and to continue BF. Since taking them my baby (10 wks) has changed personality and is very sleepy, cranky and unhappy. Not the smiley baby I am used to.
Is this a result of the antibiotics?

In an attempt to see if this is the antibiotics I have decided to pump & dump my milk and give my baby formula for 2 days to see if it gets out of her system. I feel terrible for doing this - I can't feed and comfort her as normal.

Am I doing the right thing? Anybody else been in this situation - advice appreciated.

I'm sure someone will come along with better advice but from what I understand, you don't get as much milk with pumping, so you may find that giving formula for two days may affect your supply??

I was on antibiotics when my DD was 6 weeks old as I had some retained placenta causing a mild infection - there were two lots, one of which the doctor said would make my milk bitter, but to carry on feeding, it would do no harm to baby.

To be honest I didn't notice any difference to DD at all (one of them was amoxycillin - this wasn't the bitter one). She goes through days where she's fussier/grumpier than normal anyway, despite the tablets, so it could just be that.

How long are you on the antibiotics for?

The most common side-effect of amox whilst bfing is a degree of diarrhoea for baby - is she experiencing this? How long have you been taking it so far? I have taken it whilst bfing and although DD2's stools were a bit looser than usual I didn't notice a difference. She was maybe a bit grumpy for the first couple of days as well, I think because her bowels were a bit out of kilter. Could you talk this through with a GP tomorrow - many do telephone consultations on the day? I'm loath to advise you to do anything because obviously you and your doctor are the only folks to make decisions on this. In your position I think I'd also try and rule out other reasons why her behaviour may have changed e.g. virus, teething etc. I hope that you are able to come to the right decision for you both (and hope you feel better soon!).
PS - I can ask DH (army GP) for his views when he gets home if they would help?

I took amox for mastitis while bfing and DS actually had it himself in SCBU. They warned me about the diarrhoea but nothing else. I didn't see any difference in DS when I had the mastitis.

I suspect the crankiness is just a phase, but please, if you're worried about her, take her to the GP.

likely just coincidence.

kellymom has the american approved medicines. says amoxicillin is approved for breastfeeding mothers

Formula may also cause an upset tummy and doing this could affect supply.

I'm om my third lot of anti-bios and ds is only 5 months old.

I took antibiotics and noticed my baby was a bit cranky while I took them, but a risk benefit analysis for me made me think she'll get over it and it was only for 10 days - she was absolutely fine again when I stopped. I think the change by giving her formula might upset her a bit, too, so would prob just feed her anyway.

www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/drugs-in-breastmilk-information-and-factsheets.html has a referenced factsheet on antibiotics.

See also toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?LACT

No need to pump and dump.

Sleepy, cranky and unhappy, changed personality can mean poorly baby - messing about with her diet and possibly her health is not a great idea at all, sorry.

The amount of drugs getting into the milk would not produce all these symptoms.

Maybe see the doc and the HV?

I had the same thing when I took AB. Baby so windy - cried lots, lots of green poo and I could hear his tummy gurgling.

I hear what TikTok says about it not getting into milk and producing those symtoms but it seemed to with me and if you google it, it does seem to with lots of othre people so a funny coincidence. I could hear his tummy gurling and he would be so uncomfortable after a feed. About a week after I finished AB it all went away so maybe was unrelated - who knows.

BUT I think you may affect your supply if you pump and I'm not sure i would give formula in case it is unrelated and I'd be worried about my supply. I just went with it and braced myself for a rough ride. If it was the AB I felt the risk of cocking up my supply or refusing my breasts again were not enough to give a bottle of formula. And it may well be unrelated but I didn't feel it was. Having said that I did throw the milk I expressed during AB.

It's tough because you don't want to see your baby suffer. Has putting him on formula made a difference?

I think there is enough evidence - anecdotal and more, if LactMed is to be believed - that some babies can be affected.

But 'sleepy, cranky, unhappy, personality change' needs checking out medically, I would say - not good to assume it is the abs, because that's a lot of symptoms to attribute to it.