Breastfeeding With A Head Cold

I managed to spend my Christmas holidays with the head cold to end all head colds. In fact, the kid and husband were down too so we were basically a plague house. It was awful. We splurged and got the extra soft tissues (minus the Aloe because I’m allergic, which is no easy thing to find by the way!) but otherwise we were miserable and disgusting. So much snot. Such a horrific, repulse amount of snot.

And to add insult to injury, my daughter finally started cutting her last tooth and decided she was done with diapers all at the same time. So I had a plegm-filled 22-month-old with a chapped nose and a bum glowing red like a baboon that I’m constantly having to toss onto the potty, all while feeling like death warmed over myself. Yay!

Now I normally am a big fan of medicating myself right through a head cold. In fact, I like to ignore the packages recommendation to avoid alcohol and, after popping a delightful cold and sinus pill, pour myself a nice rum toddy and drift – if not blissfully at least slightly buzzed – through however many days it takes for this thing to run through my system.

As a mom, I don’t really have that option. As a mom that’s still breastfeeding, I definitely don’t.

Now, if you’re turned off that I’m still nursing my almost 2-year-old you really need to get past it. I’m a huge supporter of extended breastfeeding because there’s a ton of evidence that it’s good for my daughter. And, quite honestly, it was a great way to keep her both hydrated and fed during this awful cold because she wasn’t too interested in food. Plus, the comfort factor was a big one for her all week. Poor little tyke.

(We won’t discuss me having to wipe her snot off my boob though. It takes away from the “magic of motherhood” just a little bit. Ick.)

Anyways, there’s nothing like knowing that whatever goes into your body goes into your kidlette to make you start reading the packaging and get you highly paranoid about taking meds you wouldn’t have thought twice about previously. And, it’s not just fears of something passing through your milk you have to worry about. When it comes to decongestants, both pseudoephedrine and phenylephrine are generally considered to be safe for baby, but pseudoephedrine may reduce milk supply. Permanently. Which is not something I’m interested in just yet.

(There’s also some speculation that sedating antihistamines could lower milk supply but there isn’t any current research to support that. Still, if you notice your supply dropping and that’s not something you want, definitely stop taking it and talk to your doctor or pharmacist again.)

KellyMom, which is an amazing resource for all things pregnancy, breastfeeding and more, has a phenominal post on Cold and Allergy Remedies Compatible with Breastfeeding. It’s crazy thorough. Which, if you’re anything like me, is exactly what I want.

Another great resource is an app called MommyMeds from the Infant Risk Center. You can scan products or search by ingredient name and get details on its impact on babies. So it’s great for colds and beyond.

Plus, my pharmacy is amazing for looking things up if they don’t know! Just ask!

One of the big things is really keeping yourself hydrated though. You’re going to be dehydrated yourself just because of the cold and with kiddo pulling that extra moisture out of you, it’s even worse. Think back to the early days when you had a glass of water every time you nursed.

You’re doing a great job, momma.