# Do breastfed babies really not get sick much??



## Jen78fl (Nov 2, 2007)

Hi all. Well, I am just curious about this. I have always heard that breastfed babies do not get sick much. I came down with a cold just recently and now DD has it.







It is pretty mild for her right now, just a little stuffy, sneezing, etc, but I am hoping it wont get any worse. Anyway, I am just curious to hear others experiences. Do you find your kids dont get sick very much? It just worries me if she will catch things easily because my son is always coming down with the stomach flu and I definitely dont want her to get that! Thanks everyone.

Jen


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## katie&micah (May 16, 2005)

My daughter is 14 months old and has been sick once in her life. It was a cold that lasted 3 or 4 days. Other than that, nothing. I always get nervous when DH or I come down with something, but somehow she always escapes getting sick. So for us, yes it seems to be true.


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## njbeachgirl (Oct 8, 2006)

My 21 month old has only been sick twice, and neither time that bad. Once was a chest cold. The other time was a nasty stomach bug that we all had. She was definitely not as bad off as DH and I were with that!

She has never needed antibiotics.


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## BeccaSue1029 (Apr 2, 2008)

My kids never got sick until I weaned them.


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## ~Demeter~ (Jul 22, 2006)

I have 4 children, 3 that I breastfed. My oldest (the one who wasn't breastfed) was sick very frequently as an infant. He had recurring ear infections and more than a few colds before he turned 2. My 2nd and 3rd babies didn't get sick until we weaned.. they may have had a sniffle here or there but no major illness until they were no longer breastfed. My daughter has had one illness to date, I actually believe she had pertussis and I can only begin to imagine just how bad it would have been had she not been nursing. I think it definitely would have lasted much longer than it did. I will also add that as my oldest has grown he seldom gets sick now either.. we all seem to have fairly decent immune systems.


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## amynbebes (Aug 28, 2008)

My 13 yr old has been to the dr maybe 4 times for an illness, my 11 yr old two, maybe 3 times, my 7 yr old 3 times, my 5 yr old once. They each get a cold maybe once a yr but nothing that warrants going to the doctor.


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## tabasco (Dec 20, 2007)

Hmmm . . . I BFed my DD until she was 17 months old (I was pregnant and she stopped nursing despite my better efforts). While she was BFed, my DD had diarrhea twice, roseola, influenza, and 2 other upper respiratory infections.

My DS, who is EBFed and 9 weeks old, got sick at 5 weeks. He caught the URI that my DD had, but it was much milder.

Although some people's BFed kids never get sick, plenty of them do. The way I prefer to think about it is that you never know whether they would have been sick more often or with more severe symptoms had they not been BFed.


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## _betsy_ (Jun 29, 2004)

My DD is 2 (tomorrow!) and has never really been sick. A bit of a stuffy nose a couple of times, but no worse than when she's teething. I've been sick at least 4 times in her life and she's never really caught it, and the one time she got the sniffles when I was sick, she didn't get anything as severe as I was going through.

She's an incredibly healthy kid, no ear infections, no health issues at all, really, so I don't know how much of that is nursing related, overall good health, good food, not being in daycare, etc.


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## PatioGardener (Aug 11, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Jen78fl* 
I have always heard that breastfed babies do not get sick much.

I like to think of it this way. Breastfed babies get sick a 'normal' or 'typical' amount. That, of course, depends on the baby, the environment, the season etc. It has been well documented in some good studies that babies who are not breastfed are more at risk of certain types of illnesses than babies who are breastfed.

This doesn't mean that all babies who are formula fed get sick more often than all babies who are breastfed, or that breastfed babies don't get sick. But it does mean that on average across the population more babies who aren't breastfed get these illnesses than babies who are breastfed.

I hope that you and your little one feel better soon!


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## tnh2007 (Nov 24, 2007)

My breastfed baby is in daycare and has gotten 2 colds so far. He's about 6 months... It seems like he doesn't catch anything that I have, but he will catch things at daycare...


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## dogmom327 (Apr 19, 2007)

DS is 14 mo and has been sick once for two days (DH brought home that horrible flu from work this last spring, then I caught it, then DS caught it). He did have an on-again-off-again fever a few weeks ago but no other symptoms so I'm pretty sure that was teething.


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## orangecanoe (Aug 3, 2003)

I think it totally varies by kids and exposure to germs and such. My first two had two ear infections between them, but the baby had 7 by 9 months old.









What I find is that bf'ing seems to have helped them get through illnesses easier in that it's more digestible and easier to keep them hydrated through things like GI bugs.


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## Peony (Nov 27, 2003)

DD2 will be two next month and has caught almost every bug known to man. Seriously, if I listed all of her illnesses, not even counting the dozens and dozens of colds and stomach bugs, you would run away screaming in horror. And she is still bf. What I can say, is that even as sick as she has been, it could of been worse. We bf through all of them, was only was admitted for dehydration a couple times with the most serious illness. Today she is a big, happy toddler, who those who don't know her health history, have no idea she ever had issues. I credit bf for getting us through many scary times.


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## star*mora (Sep 3, 2007)

my son has been sick once - ear infection/flu combo that he picked up from his cousin who is 3mths younger than him (he is ill a lot and my sis has formula fed him from 4mths on).

i have even had bronchitis - borderline pneumonia this summer (was sick for 5wks) totally contagious for 2 of those wks and cal didn't get sick

when we left the nicu, we were told it would be likely he would be ill/hospitalized by the age of 6mths. well, guess callum proved them wrong!

i don't know if it's the breastmilk for certain - but my hunch is it has made all the difference for him.


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## Breeder (May 28, 2006)

I think a lot of it depends on the kid specifically.

I was a formula fed from birth babe and I was an absolute hoss of a kid. Maybe sick once a year and the trend has continued into adulthood. My sister was breastfed for a year and she catches everything. To this day she is sick at least 2 times during the flu season.


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## dayiscoming2006 (Jun 12, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *BeccaSue1029* 
My kids never got sick until I weaned them.

That was my experience with my son as well. He was never sick until I stopped breastfeeding. I breastfed him for 9 and a half months.


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## blueridgewoman (Nov 19, 2001)

My daughter will be one next month and still hasn't been sick....


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## Jen78fl (Nov 2, 2007)

Thanks everyone for the info! DD actually seems to be doing better, fewer cold symptoms than she had.. Hopefully it will stay that way.. I also had stomach flu soon after she was born and she didnt get it, so I guess it really does help to BF..


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## dogmom327 (Apr 19, 2007)

I don't know if this affects it either but in addition to BF, I'm not terribly worried about normal/everyday germs. I generally let DS play on floors at small stores (when it doesn't cause other people inconvenience). I also take him regularly to visit my best friend who manages a large family practice clinic (major germ factory) but not play on the floor. MIL about had a heart attack when DS dropped a toy on the floor at a restaurant and I just scooped it up and gave it back to him. I believe his immune system will only get stronger if tested. The only place I really draw the line is that I don't let him play on the floor or with the toys at doctor's offices, hospitals, etc. Those are not normal germs!


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## robertandenith (Apr 1, 2008)

mine got sick very little, but I have to remind you that if they get sick or not while they breastfeed, you are setting a healthy life for them in a long term not just short term. While some may get many colds than others, you are also giving them plenty of immunizations to prevent many life threatening diseases! A cold is not going to kill them









And if they do get sick their bodies know how to handle viruses and get sick less the time than non-bfed babies.


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## milkybean (Mar 19, 2008)

I think overall they might not get sick as often, but with all statistics, there are exceptions. Like me. And to a lesser extent, my son.

I was nursed until I was 4, and I got sick, definitely. Once I was weaned, it got worse, much worse. I even got scarlet fever the year I was weaned! Who gets that?

And although my son didn't get sick in his first year, since then he gets sick. At 1 and 2 he got rota once each year, and this last year we've all gotten several colds.

What gets me through is twofold: 1. how easy it is to get him through the illnesses while nursing, and 2. how much worse it would be for me if I hadn't been breastfed, and how many more colds DS would have gotten if I weren't nursing him.


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## Incubator (May 11, 2006)

I actually had a very good test of this just this month. I was not breastfed as a child, my son was breast fed until 14 months and my 4 month old daughter is currently breast-fed. We all caught a cold. I'm still fighting off the stuffiness and headaches two and a half weeks later. my son had one night of slight fever and one weeks worth of runny nose. my daughter had a runny nose for one day! ONE DAY!


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## ChetMC (Aug 27, 2005)

I realize that this is purely anecdotal evidence, but although our breastfed babies have had colds, the breastfed baby has always been the least sick person in our family when something was going around.

Our kids have never needed antibiotics while being breastfed, and we took them everywhere... less than a week old at shopping malls and hockey games, twelve days old flying cross country, they crawled around on the floor at the movie theatre and the doctor's office, they sucked on the handle of the shopping cart at the grocery store and the seat backs on the bus. Our second DD actually started eating solids while we were vacationing in Morocco and she was the only one of us who ate the local food and didn't get sick to some degree.


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## Datura (Mar 18, 2005)

I've had teachers comment to me that my DS1 gets sick about half the time that the other kids do. He also tends to blow through illnesses quickly and doesn't get them as severely. Chickenpox barely made it on his radar, lol.


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## Jen78fl (Nov 2, 2007)

Sounds good! Less sickness would probably have to be the #1 reason for BF'ng. I cant stand to see my baby sick







So I am going to keep it up for as long as I am able to..


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## Koloe (Aug 20, 2005)

It's a statistic? "On Average" BF children are healthier than nonBF children. Doesn't mean a BF child would get ill or even seriously ill. My BF child was very healthy until she went to Day Care at 5 months old. Then she caught all the bugs going around the daycare. BUT she usually had a more mild case and got well faster than all the other kids, none of whom were currently BF. But she got 3 dx EIs in 6 months even with BF.


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## LBMarie9 (Jan 3, 2008)

thanks for this thread...

DS 1---was BF 1 year (DID supplement some formula because of size issue --that I now see weren't issues at all)---he has had CHRONIC ear infections and gets sick A LOT

DD #2 (3 mo old)---I was SO healthy during pregnancy---and am determined to not give her a DROP of formula...however--at 5 weeks she had a cold and now currently has an ear infection ALREADY!!! ah!! thank you for the thread--I was feeling REALLY bummed to think all my hard work didn't make a difference bcause she's ALREADY sick! maybe it's less because of BFing= I dunno.


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## GAmomto5 (Apr 9, 2008)

My 13 mo has also never been sick, but like other posters have said, I think not going to daycare and especially not getting vaxed, thereby weakning her immune system, have contributed to her good health. All my older children were also BF for at least a year and only 2 have needed antibiotics (twice each) for strep.


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## aaronsmom (Jan 22, 2007)

Haven't read all the replies but just wanted to say that DD is 8 mo and has never been sick in her life. Not even a runny nose!







Compared to DS who was not breastfed (







) and was sick every other month (or so it seemed!).


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## thepeach80 (Mar 16, 2004)

My kids are always the exception, but they have gotten fewer things that have been passed around our house. I remember at least once when I nursing Ilana, she was the only one who didn't get this awful stomach bug we had, even I had it and it was horrible! I was so thankful she was spared. I will tell you my friend's bf kids are sick WAY less than my kids though, but mine also have allergies and such and I can't ebf which has compromised things.


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