Breastfeeding and Chickenpox

[SwimSwim]

Hi! My DS (5 months) is showing signs of chickenpox having been exposed lately, to a couple of children who then turned out to have the virus. He's EBF still and has an increasing number of small red spots appearing over his body for the last few days. This is now day 3 of the spots and although we started to notice more last night (on his back and head especially), they've still not progressed much past the red spot stage. Apart from a cough, he's still quite chirpy (he had a fever and was quite unwell week or so ago, if relevant). I was wondering if anyone could tell me through experience or otherwise, whether him being EBF could make his outbreak appear mild? I can find information on passive immunity on the NHS site but it says it usually only lasts a few months. I'll keep him quarantined obviously as I'm pretty sure it is chickenpox. This might be the normal course of the virus I suppose but it's the first time I've dealt with it as an adult.
Thank you!!

My ebf baby caught it at 5 months old and had such a severe dose that she was hospitalised for 11 days. Her sister caught it from her and had a handful of spots. I don’t think you can predict the course it will take. Hopefully your baby will have it mildly.

My ebf baby also caught it from her sister at 5 months and was very ill with it. Much worse than dd1 was.

They can get it mildly when so young but then get it again later, annoyingly. I know a couple of friends whose babies have got a mild version when 6mo or under but then gone on to get it again in a couple of years' time (but again pretty mild).

Your baby will probably still have some passive immunity from pregnancy/breastfeeding, although not enough to dodge it entirely, but perhaps enough so it's just a mild case, so fingers crossed!

DD had it very mildly at 15wks old.

DD was EBF and had it pretty badly at 3 months.

Chickenpox immunity/protection does not pass through breastmilk. Very young infants may have some continuing passive immunity from the pregnancy that has passed through the placenta but this decreases over time up until six months or so.

As posters above have reported , there can be severe chickenpox complications in infants, however thankfully this is rather rare. More likely is that chickenpox in young infants is very mild and won’t be enough to develop natural immunity so your child has the double misfortune of having the illness and still being susceptible to another infection of it later on in childhood.

If the spots haven’t progressed significantly in the past three days, that is less usual and it could be something else. Make sure of course that you take all the usual precautions including checking that the rash blanched with the glass test etc. It’s good that he is otherwise well in himself but keep an eye and seek medical advice if in any doubt as he is so young.

I believe the vaccine is available from 12 months age, so if you have the funds available, you could consider privately vaccinating him once he reaches the eligible age. I’m very nervous of chicken pox and its many risks myself and a huge fan of the vaccine.