# Huh?? Has anyone heard that you shouldn't nurse a vomiting toddler??



## catgirl1007 (Feb 9, 2005)

My DD is sick with a respiratory bug. She's had a low grade fever and vomited twice. I called her Ped to ask a few questions, mentioned the vomiting, and the nurse said that I _shouldn't_ BF her b/c of the vomiting. She said that I should pump to keep up my supply, but not give her the BM b/c the _volume_ of BM that she's getting could be upsetting her tummy. HUH????

She told me to give DD chicken broth, water & Pedialyte. My DD is only 14 months old and 97% BF. How could she sustain herself on chicken broth and water? I've heard that Pedialyte tastes like [email protected] I'm not giving her that. She's only vomited twice in the last 24 hours & most of it was drainage/mucous. We co-sleep and I'm not going to stop nursing her at night, _and_ nursing comforts her. I think it'd be more traumatic for her to be denied nummies than to have a couple of vomit episodes. Not to mention, she's still having a normal amount of wet diapers so she's not dehydrated. UGH!

I'm surprised b/c our Ped is very knowledgeable about BF'ing... maybe this nurse isn't? Does what she told me sound strange to anyone else?


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## JamesMama (Jun 1, 2005)

I'd ignore that bit of advice, personally.

I hope your DD gets to feeling better!


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## Birth Junky (Jun 14, 2004)

No personal experience with BF just yet, but the advice you got sounds very odd to me . . . BM is going to be FAR more nutritionally complete than broth and pedialyte, will keep her hydrated, and will comfort her while she is sick. What could be wrong with that?

And how is VOLUME going to be an issue? Did the nurse give you a prescribed amount of broth/water/Pedialyte to give your DD, to avoid "too much volume" making her vomit?

I would say disregard the nurse's comments and go with your instincts . . . Kellymom.com has some information on breastfeeding a sick child as well: http://www.kellymom.com/health/illne...y-illness.html

Good luck--I hope your DD feels better soon!


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## royaloakmi (Mar 2, 2005)

That sounds dumb to me. Plus, breastmilk is easily digested, so even if she keeps it down for a little while, she's still getting some nutrition.

I would only worry if she stops having enough wet diapers, no tears, etc. My twins had a severe vomiting bout last winter and I did have to get pedialite into them b/c they were getting dehydrated, despite nursing.


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## MotheringHeart (Dec 18, 2005)

This sounds totally strange. Breastmilk is really very calming to the stomach also. All those antibodies and the make-up of it, make it much easier for sick tummies to keep it down. I'd keep nursing her, it will help keep her hydrated and help her get better quicker.


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## UUMom (Nov 14, 2002)

Wrong. Wrong. Stupid advice.

Ignore it.


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## LeosMama (Sep 6, 2005)

:

Dumb-dee-dumb-dumb-dumb (sung to the theme song to Dragnet)

I've told this story a lot lately here! Last year, ds had rotavirus at 12 months of age. I stayed home from work and nursed him CONSTANTLY b/c it was what he wanted. He puked and diarrhea'd for two days and we took him to the ER. Long story short, we got admitted to the Ped's ward. The pediatrician and pediatric nurses applauded the nursing, got me a pump in case ds couldn't nurse and we had to give a bottle or tube (never happened, thank goodness) feed or to keep up my supply. They strongly supported me being in bed with him (when we declined the crib, our nurse said that was good, all he needed was snuggling and nummies and the IV to get his electrolytes up). The dr. was great and kept pushing the nummies and wanting to know how much he was nursing. He wasn't at all upset about our not giving the prescribed pedialyte "that's only for formula fed babies, b/c they can't really have formula with this kind of bug" and kept encouraging as much milk as he could take. The only advice about b/fing aside from 'as much as possible' was 'little bits at a time, if possible, to help his tummy stay empty so he's less likely to vomit'. But when I couldn't keep him off the breast, doc said it was okay anyhow.

I mean, it's like saying you should give vitamin pills instead of food. It doesn't make any sense at all. Breastmilk is the best thing for your dd right now. If it gets worse, you might need more medical interventions, but you'll never need to stop b/fing her.

You might want to talk to the pediatrician the nurse works for and make sure he knows she's giving out such stupid, dangerous advice.


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## athansor (Feb 9, 2005)

I'm so glad to see this thread. Ds is getting over a stomach bug, and he gave it to me and now dh is suffering from it. He started with throwing up, then progressed to diarreha, which is starting to go away. I've been breastfeeding the whole time, even when I was sick, althought I was worried that it wasn't a good idea. He seems to be doing great now, and I'm feeling a lot better. Even dh is starting to get well.

(it is OK to breastfeed if you're sick, right?)


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## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

Wrong wrong wrong. Like always, breastmilk is BEST. If your dr is really a big breastfeeding supporter then I would make sure to tell him/her about the nurse.

-Angela


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## Britishmum (Dec 25, 2001)

My ped gives the exact opposite advice. Nurse that baby!


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## the_lissa (Oct 30, 2004)

No there is no reason not to bf a sick toddler. You should bf her as much as she can stomach actually.


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## celestialdreamer (Nov 18, 2004)

That is exactly what the ped told us when Anna had the stomach flu. She claimed that she needed to rest her system and have clear liquids only. I really argued on that with her and she said that we just had different viewpoints on it







My dd always wanted to nurse way more when she was sick, and like everyone else has mentioned BM is easily digested, has the right minerals, etc. I think kellymom.com has some info about that, but I can't check right now. I was also once told when my dd hit her head really hard (at about 4 months old I tripped over the cat and kinda tossed her on the floor head first







: ) not to give her anything to eat or drink for 3 hours. I pretty much laughed at the consulting nurse, because my dd was EBF and was nursing her as I was on the phone calling!

Lets just put it this way...I was a pediatric nurse before I had my dd and breastfeeding was *never* a topic that we covered in my maternity/pediatric nursing rotation. Most health professionals are clueless on the topic.


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## UUMom (Nov 14, 2002)

It's absolutely Ok to nurse when you are sick, although it's not always something pleasant...Your body is making antibodies to the germs you are exposed to-- your baby will get these antibodies through your breastmilk. Through your milk, your baby is getting some impressive means to fight whatever it is you have.

It's why breastfed babies are so often proteced from those germies which send their mothers to the sofa (and toilet). The whole family maybe wretching, but the fully breastfed baby often sails through beautifully.

Get well soon, all of you!!!


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## Brinda (Oct 28, 2005)

I wouldn't follow that advice! I was always told BM has better electrolyte balance than anything else. I'm always told to do short, frequent nursings.


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## kchoffmann (Aug 16, 2004)

Hooey! DS had a viral intestinal bug a few months ago. I'm so glad he was still nursing at the time (he's since weaned during my pregnancy) because he really needed the comfort. He threw it up about an hour after the first time we nursed. But the next time, he held it down and it helped him sleep. When he woke up, he was all better. It was obvious to me the BM provided him with the hydration he needed, even with throwing it up later. And, like my DH said when it was going on - if he wants it, you should give it to him. Just like when we are sick and don't want to eat, his body knows what it needs.


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## sciencemama (Nov 13, 2004)

dd had a stomach bug when she was 22 months and we were traveling, visiting my grandparents. After 5 days of being unable to keep down any solids we took her to a ped. Both the doc and his assistant told me-- Great job Mommy! Keep nursing her! They were seeing so many babes with the same virus getting admitted to the hospital for dehydration.


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## annekevdbroek (Jun 5, 2005)

Well, my very BF friendly pediatrician told me to nurse about 2-5 minutes per session with frequent sessions (e.g. every 20 minutes or so) to help DS keeping the milk down when he was sick. No suggestion of chicken broth









I understand about wanting to reduce volume on a sensitive stomach. Afterall, we wouldn't eat a huge meal if we had a stomach bug. But, not nursing??? That is plain wrong! The frequent short sessions did seem to help the milk stay down, BTW.


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## KKmama (Dec 6, 2001)

Okay, in a REALLY SEVERE vomitting situation, pedialyte is less irritating than breastmilk. And yes, volume can affect whether the kid barfs... the stomach can become so irritated that it just can't handle large amounts of *anything*... in order to get some liquids absorbed in that situation, very small quantities should be given at short intervals. But when I mean REALLY SEVERE, I mean the child is vomitting so much/so frequently that dehydration and hospitalization are serious prospects. But **in general**, yes, just nurse, avoid solids except for the very bland/easily digested stuff (and only if the child truly wants to eat them)... nursing is the best thing for them. The OP's child really wasn't barfing nearly enough to be considered severe (though I'm sorry...







any barfing in a kid is not fun).

My older son had rotavirus when he was ~19 mos. old. He got to the point where he couldn't keep anything down at all--breastmilk, pedialyte (we tried it out of desperation), or water... didn't matter what it was (he barfed *plenty* of breastmilk), didn't matter how small a quantity he got. He was finally hospitalized, got the IV, etc. We did hold off nursing for ~12 hours the first night he was in the hospital so his tummy could settle down (and I pumped). Thereafter, we were encouraged to slowly ramp back up on the nursing as his tummy could tolerate it. Our ped is very bf'ing friendly (and at the start of the illness, he said, "Thank God you're still nursing... most women have quit by the time their kids are this age.")... I don't think we could have avoided the hospital, because T was pretty darned sick. But the ped said that when a kid is *that sick*, even breastmilk can be irritating (because there's more in it than water, and when your tummy is that freaked out, you don't want much more than water), and what he recommended was 50% water/50% pedialyte, given in quantities of ~1 Tbsp. every 10 minutes.







I would try it if it happened again if I thought it would have given us a shot at avoiding the hospital.


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## thepeach80 (Mar 16, 2004)

BM is considered a clear liquid. We got the advice several times to just give Evan pedialyte when he was little and I just ignored it. Thankfully I knew bm was a clear liquid, so it qualified just fine. I just had to wean Evan and he just got over a nasty case of gastroenteritis.







He couldn't keep anything down for about 24 hours, not even the tsp of water we were giving. We finally had to give him a tsp of 1/3 strength formula, wait to see if it came up for about 15 mins and then give him another tsp etc. If he got too much, he did puke so it does make a difference. Thankfully he never got really dehydrated and is just getting over the last part of it now. It was so hard to see him sick and not be able to nurse him.


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## Fiercemama (May 30, 2003)

My DD had 2 bad cases of a stomach flu when she was about 18 mos. Yes, the nurses and peds recommended pedialyte, which I refused - DD did still want to bf and was not dehydrated. My rationale was that her body was born knowning how to digest bm, and it was the best for her.

I did try to keep nursing sessions very short in order to minimize the volume she was getting at once, but she would have none of it. In the end, I ended up pumping and giving very small amounts of bm by dropper, say 0.5 oz at a time, every 5 mins or so. In hindsight, I would just let her nurse freely again, even if she couldn't keep it down. There are lots of health benefits, even if it doesn't all stay down (some of it must) and there is the comfort factor too - for both mum and baby.


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## momto l&a (Jul 31, 2002)

Another reason to bf while kiddo is sick is for the immunities the nursling is getting for you.

Dr and their offices







:


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## catgirl1007 (Feb 9, 2005)

TY for all the responses! For a second there, I was questioning my own maternal instinct (must remember to stop doing that). DD has definitely been nursing more and I know a lot of it is for comfort. I can't even imagine denying her something that makes her feel better - that would be cruel IMO. She's always been pretty quick at nursing so I think the amount of time she's spending is okay. She's only vomited one more time, but still has a fever (100.7). I'm hoping she kicks this in the next couple of days. She has her 15 month Ped appt next week and I'll definitely talk with her BF'ing friendly Ped about what the nurse told me. Thanks again!!


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## addax (Jul 29, 2005)

Just for anyone still reading, KK is right on. Most of the time bf is just what baby needs, in short frequent bursts. And you might want to pump too if s/he isn't taking much in. HOWEVER in more severe cases (and I speak as a veteran of 2 long hospitalizations with gastro and a third time we managed to stay out only thanks to Zofran; my son is special needs and many of you may never have to worry about this) baby (and here I include any nursling whatever size!) may be so sick that s/he cannot tolerate breastmilk. I'm talking, vomiting 8 or more times in 12 hours and vomiting blood and bile. In cases of severe vomiting and dehydration risk you may indeed need to pump and give your child fluids (pedialyte or even water, whatever they can tolerate, though you should definitely visit the ped or ER too rather than just listening to me) by syringe, 5mL or one tsp per 5 minutes if they are smaller, twice that if they are bigger, or whatever they can take in. Only in cases of this sort of severity, or where bowel obstruction is suspected and surgery may be needed, is breastfeeding contraindicated!


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## Apryl Srissa (Oct 1, 2005)

We had a horrid bug last year and took my son to the ER. The nurse there told us that I had to clean my breasts with alcohol or that hand sanitizer stuff, and that he shouldn't nurse, that it would make it harder for him to heal and he'd just reinfect himself. Luckily our doc (and his wife, she is a LC) are great and later called the hospital about that. Your milk is the thing least likely to make her vomit, it will help more with hydration than anything else, and just plain make your sweety feel comforted and loved when she needs that most.

Hope your sweety is feeling better quickly!


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## mollyeilis (Mar 6, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *celestialdrmrmama*
That is exactly what the ped told us when Anna had the stomach flu. She claimed that she needed to rest her system and have clear liquids only. I really argued on that with her and she said that we just had different viewpoints on it.

Breastmilk is considered a clear liquid. If the anesthesiologists are getting it right, the rest of 'em need to also. You might want to clear that up with the ped, so she stops giving that advice...

It seems that we're dealing with rotavirus right now, and DS has vomited, and each time, about 10 minutes later, he wants to nurse. But he doesn't do huge sessions, just a bit at a time. It's almost like toddlers (and babies, I assume) almost innately know what to do when they're sick...









B'milk is all my kiddo has eaten the last few days...if I weren't still b'feeding on demand, I don't know WHAT I would have done for him...so so so glad I've been able to give him exactly what he needs. Whew!


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## leafwood (Jun 15, 2004)

We got similar advice to stop nursing when dd had a stomach bug two weeks ago (she's 23 months). She vomited 3 times overnight, but amazingly, just threw up about 2 ounces each time when I know for sure she got a heck of a lot more milk from me. She was having wet diapers and also drinking water....I continued to nurse her and she started keeping it down longer and longer and vomiting less each time. I just know that it's hard to go against what the dr says when your baby is sick, but mama instincts are something they don't teach in med school!


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## numom499 (Jun 12, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Apryl Srissa*
We had a horrid bug last year and took my son to the ER. The nurse there told us that I had to clean my breasts with alcohol or that hand sanitizer stuff, !


okay...that is just crazy...thank goodness you had a smart doctor. but man, what a stupid nurse.


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## Ravin (Mar 19, 2002)

Dr. Sears has very good guidelines on what to do with a vomiting baby/toddler. I've gone back and and obsessively read his web info on vomiting and on dehydration every time DD has gottne sick. IF they aren't also having diarhea, a toddler who is vomiting frequently may go up to 12 hrs. taking in NOTHING without getting seriously dehydrated. This is total stomach rest, and my DD usually needs just this when she's vomited, until the frequency slows down, or she'll just keep going.

The kicker is, when she's in that kind of shape (which has happened 3 or 4 times since she turned a year), she'll refuse to nurse after a couple of vomiting episodes. She just sleeps it off (not total lethargy, she'll respond when roused, usually to refuse nursing again).

Once they do take ANYTHING, then if they're bf the best thing is breastmilk. My DD has only had pedialyte when she had to stay home sick with daddy. She hates the stuff, last couple times she was sick wouldn't touch it. I'm not even going to bother buying any next time she gets sick--if she can't have mama, we'll give her gatorade or something.

Anyway, breast is best for a sick baby, if they can keep anything at all down. And if they can't, letting them go a few hours without anything will let that tummy rest and the vomiting brain shut down again, hopefully. Just watch carefully for signs of dehydration if that happens, esp. in conjunction with a fever. Or go read Dr. Sears' advice directly.


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## mollyeilis (Mar 6, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Ravin*
if she can't have mama, we'll give her gatorade or something.

Really quick, there's a drink called Recharge that's sort of a natural sort of Gatorade...it was suggested to drink during labor. A few different flavors, good electrolytes, and so on. And, as far as I recall, none of the neon artificial colors as in Gatorade/Powerade/etc.










In case you didn't know about it, thought I'd let you know!


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## DWAXSMOM (Aug 28, 2005)

I am very pro-breastfeeding, actually training to be an LC but I do have to say that this is what worked for my ds when he had a bad stomach bug. He could not keep anything down. When I finally followed the advice of my ped by holding off on bf for 24 hours he did not throw up once and was able to keep other foods down. Then we returned to normal bf. I do not think it is indicated in every situation. In fact, most situations involving a sick child indicate increased amounts of BM if possible. This time it worked for us.


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