Does your breastfed child ever get unwell?

[brilliantdances]

DS is almost 4 and never had sickness bug - He has just never been sick.

He didn't get a cold until well over 18 months?! But what sticks out for me the most is him never catching any vomiting bugs before

He was breastfed until age 3.5.

I'm pregnant again and really don't want to breastfeed again.

I'm wondering, is it far more likely new baby will be ill more often? I heard all types of horror stories about them picking stuff up from nursery but DS never has for some reason and I can only imagine it's breastfeeding

Thank you!

Yes! I breastfed my daughter until she was 3 years old and she used to get colds, not so much now.

Thinking about it though, she's 6 now and has never had a vomiting bug or diarrhoea; nothing more than a cold.

But for the reason you're asking - immunity is affected by different factors including genetics so don't worry about not breast feeding if you don't want to do it.

I had two formula fed kids. Eldest has asthma and always ill. Youngest is never ill. Some kids get more sick than others.

Both of my children were bottle fed, though they did have the colostrum, and neither of them have ever had a sickness and diarrhoea bug yet. They are 6 and 8.

My bottle fed children definitely got ill more often than my breastfed child.

It's hard to say with mine as lockdown impacted a lot. But I'm still breastfeeding at just turning two and she's had 4 colds so far in her life. Three minor, one a bit more intense and so far no sickness bugs.
But my sister breastfed all her children and one was sick all the time, esp with sickness bugs. He was the last one and both his sister's were at school when he picked up lots of bugs so that could be worth thinking about too.

Just total luck!

Out of my children and all my nieces and nephews (I have 9) my 2 seem to have been the healthiest (formula fed) and my niece who was breastfed for the longest seems to get every virus going. She also has asthma which doesnt help at times.

My 2 were both formula fed and were never ill…

Love people making proclamations based on truly robust sample sizes of 2. Hilarious.

SmackMyAssnCallMeJudy this is a chat thread, the title of which very specifically only asks for parents'own experience of their own children. If the OP wants peer reviewed articles with robust sample sizes there is plenty of research available, and a few posters do refer to the fact that on a population level there is statistically significant protection offered by breastfeeding.

That's not what the OP is asking though - she can Google for links to statistics and peer reviewed research - on this specific thread she wants to chat to others about their experiences.

I get what the OP wants, thanks.

I’m commenting on the way people are responding.

SmackMyAssnCallMeJudy exactly as the OP asks them to you mean?

I breast DD for 4.5yrs. She had an upset tummy when she first started nursery at age 1, and she got colds occasionally as a baby, and one high temp episode, but once she started primary school at the age of 4 yrs and 2 weeks, she's never been ill, never had a day off sick from school and next week she will be leaving primary school. She is extremely robust and fit, never tired, full of energy, despite doing many forms of intensive exercise almost everyday.

I breastfed DS for 1yr and he had the typical stomach bugs, coughs and colds and on average would be off school sick 1 or 2 days a year. Gets tired more easily, but pretty sporty still, certainly more than the average child.

Could be diet related though, I'd say DD has a better diet. Neither of them have any allergies.

DS1 was mostly breastfeed until 6 months, then mix fed until 8 months when I stopped breastfeeding. God, he had sooooooo many chest issues. Now, at 3.5yrs, he’s under a respiratory consultant for his recurrent coughs and chest infections. And that first winter when he started nursery was brutal for colds.

DS2 is 8 months old and has only received breast milk. He hasn’t had any significant illnesses until this week when we both were struck down by a brutal respiratory virus which lasted a whole week.

Neither of them have had many tummy bugs though.

I definitely don’t think that breastfeeding is a magic wand to prevent all childhood bugs etc. Certainly not in my experience. I’d imagine getting to 3+yrs without a cold is very rare, however a child is fed.

It's a coincidence. My first never got sick (except motion sickness), my daughter I breastfed longer and was sick a lot.