Can I breastfeed when I have a cold? | May I take a temperature and nurse?

Can I breastfeed when I have a cold?

A cold is usually caused by viruses and is limited to a few days to a maximum of two weeks in mild cases. As long as a nursing mother has no indication of an unusually long or serious course of the disease, she can continue to breastfeed her baby. Accompanying symptoms such as sore throat, headaches or tiredness are also no reason to pause breastfeeding.

Rather, the breastfeeding woman should be aware that despite the cold, she is supplying important antibodies to the baby through her breast milk. These antibodies help the child to cope better with an existing infection and may also protect it from it. A child simply cannot be protected from all pathogens in the environment or its immediate surroundings. It is even part of the maturation of his immune system to deal with various pathogens. A mother should only not provoke contact with pathogens and should react adequately when the child shows signs of illness and consult a doctor if necessary.

What can I do to avoid infecting my baby?

A baby infects its mother in the same way that a mother infects herself in someone else. Therefore, every nursing woman who has a feverish infection is recommended to follow simple hygiene measures. The mother should therefore not sneeze or cough on her baby directly and should not leave used tissues in the immediate vicinity of the baby.

Washing the hands regularly is also recommended to minimise the possible attachment of the pathogens to the palms of the hands. However, pathogens are also found in the nosemouth area, especially in the case of colds. Kissing the baby or rubbing the baby’s nose together, which is meant with affection, should therefore be avoided for the duration of acute symptoms.

The risk of droplet and smear infections is thus kept as low as possible. Nevertheless, a loving contact with the child should continue and breastfeeding should be continued with the required and desired physical contact. It should only be clear that the child should not be brought into contact with pathogens unnecessarily often and much.

In any case, the child will come into contact with the pathogens, which will also lead to the training of its immune system. In addition, nursing mothers should not assume that they only transmit the pathogens to the child through their breast milk. This is because they also give antibodies to the child through their breast milk, which protect it from the pathogen.