So still, can I breastfeed if my mother is sick? Before deciding on further actions, it is necessary to understand what mom got sick and what treatment is required.
A breastfeeding woman who has taken up an ordinary viral infection (or, in other words, a cold) should not stop feeding. After all, the baby got the infection even earlier than the mother felt the first clinical signs of the disease. His body with the mother's milk receives protective antibodies. And if you interrupt feeding at this stage, the baby loses the necessary immune support at the most difficult moment. He remains alone with the viruses, not having the experience of fighting them. The chances of getting sick from such a baby increase significantly.
Mom, who weaned the baby, is not sweeter. At elevated temperature, it is very difficult to tolerate 6-7 times per day. It is not always possible to express milk in such a situation in full, and this threatens stagnation of milk and possible mastitis, which will only exacerbate the situation. Breast milk is the best way to release a baby. And milk at high temperature does not change. Its taste does not become rancid, it does not curdle or sour. But boiling milk destroys most of the protective factors.
A lactating woman can lower the temperature with paracetamol-based drugs or with paracetamol itself. But use them only in cases where the temperature is poorly tolerated. If you can suffer, it is better to let the body fight viruses on its own, because the temperature rise is a kind of protection that inhibits the multiplication of viruses. And do not use aspirin.
Viral infections usually involve symptomatic treatment that is compatible with breastfeeding. These are gargling, inhalation, the use of funds from the common cold. Antibiotics are usually not prescribed.
Antibiotics for nursing mothers are required for diseases caused by pathogenic microorganisms (sore throat, pneumonia, otitis, mastitis). At present, it is not difficult to select antibiotics that will be compatible with breastfeeding. These can be antibiotics from the penicillin series, many macrolides and cephalosporins of the first and second generation. But from antibacterial drugs that affect the growth of bones or the process of hematopoiesis, it is better to refuse (levomitsetin, tetracycline, fluoroquinolone derivatives, etc.).
Antibiotics can trigger the development of dysbacteriosis, or intestinal microbiocenosis. Special treatment is usually not required, because breast milk contains factors that promote the growth of normal microflora and suppress the pathogenic. Artificial feeding can also cause dysbacteriosis, and it will be more difficult to cope with it. And for prevention, both the mother and the child can take special preparations to maintain normal intestinal microflora.
Infectious diseases, as a rule, allow to pick up preparations which are quite compatible with breastfeeding. And homeopathy and herbalism always insures you.
WHO recommends that treatment with herbs be preferred to drug therapy. If you can not do without it, then you need to choose such drugs that have less negative impact on the child. Medication is best taken during or immediately after feeding, so that the child does not eat during the maximum concentration of the drug in the blood and milk. Breastfeeding should be discontinued only if absolutely necessary. However, lactation should not cease.
Sufficient milk production is preserved when the breast is expressed 6-7 times a day (with mature lactation). After 2-3 weeks, at most months of weaning, the baby will restore the number of feedings he needs.
Find out the compatibility of the medication with breastfeeding now is not difficult. First, tell your doctor that you are a nursing mother. Secondly, monitor the appointment of a doctor, referring to special directories. They are in the majority of doctors, necessarily at the head of the department, in any pharmacy. And in the annotation it is usually indicated, it is possible or contraindicated to breast-feed during the application of this drug.