SWINE FLU/ KEEP BREASTFEEDING

[Tennesseegirl]

OK Ladies,
My 16 month old was tested positive yesterday with the swine flu. The day I dreaded to come.
My 18 year old was sick last week and was treated she had bronchitis/pneumonia. I also am still fighting a nasty bronchitis spell. and we are still fighting it, week two.
I just wanted you all to know.. My LO is taking it like a champ!!! day one.. I know for  a fact that because she is breastfed its cutting down her symptons. Its early in the sickness... Im sure we still have a few more days, but just wanted to let you all know...PLEASE.. while this nasty stuff is out there, continue to breastfeed!! I was wanting to wean her a few months ago. IM so glad I didnt.

[tiredbuthappy]

hope she recovers soon! sickness is one reason why i definitely want to nurse at least through winter. i even decided that if my toddler got the flu, she'd get some expressed milk with her regular milk. hopefully won't come to that...
feel better!

[AndiJ78]

Breastmilk is amazing stuff! My boys were healthy as can be while nursing for sure. You can even use expressed milk straight from the breast to help with eye infections or sinus congestion. A drop or two on each side a couple times a day is better than any medicine I have found :-)

[tiredbuthappy]

check this out:
"Not only does breast milk inhibit the growth of pathogens, however – it actively reduces them. This was convincingly demonstrated in a piece of research examining what happened to milk during short term storage4. Milk was collected from 9 mothers and divided into three samples: the first was analyzed the same day; the second was refrigerated (at 4 to 6 degrees C) for 48 hours; and the third was refrigerated for 72 hours. Each sample was then contaminated with an E.coli solution (the kind of nasty bacteria that dwells in toilets) and left for two hours. When the samples were tested, levels of E.coli had reduced by 80% in both the milk that was fresh and the milk that was 48 hours old. Levels had also diminished in the 3 day-old milk, but only by around 10%, indicating that the antibacterial properties, whilst still present, had started to degrade by this point."  (http://thetruthaboutbreastfeeding.com/2009/05/21/the-antibacterial-properties-of-breast-milk/)

wonder if the same applies to viruses

[kelliestarr]

Good to know I'll continue to breastfeed.