Flu Questions

All four of my children have the flu. I thought I was getting it too, because
I was coughing, aching, had a runny nose, and had a fever of 100, but the next
day I had no fever, just a cough and runny nose. IS it possible I could have
such a short bout of flu, or do I have something else?

If a bf baby can somehow cause his mother to manufacture antibodies to his
illness in her milk, does that mean that she has antibodies in her blood as
well and that she will be less ill if she catches what he has?

Leslie

"Leslie" wrote in message
...
All four of my children have the flu. I thought I was getting it too,
because
I was coughing, aching, had a runny nose, and had a fever of 100, but the
next
day I had no fever, just a cough and runny nose. IS it possible I could
have
such a short bout of flu, or do I have something else?

I think you had enough of an antibody reaction to this flu to fight it off
without getting very sick. That's what happened to me when my kids all had
it last week. We'd all had the vaccine the week before, and I think I'd had
it just long enough to produce enough antibody to keep the symptoms to a
minimum. I'm still coughing up a bit of junk, but I never had symptoms worse
than a mild cold. Still, I'm sure I had what the kids had, and that was
pretty clearly the flu.

If a bf baby can somehow cause his mother to manufacture antibodies to his
illness in her milk, does that mean that she has antibodies in her blood
as
well and that she will be less ill if she catches what he has?

That's an interesting question. I think the answer is probably yes. That
could be one explanation for your mild symptoms.
--
Be well, Barbara
(Julian [6], Aurora [4], and Vernon's [a quarter to 2] mom)

This week's special at the English Language Butcher Shop:
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Daddy: You're up with the chickens this morning.
Aurora: No, I'm up with my dolls!

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Needless to say, they are not those of my Internet Service Provider, its
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Thanks for comfiriming that for me, Barbara. Interesting to know someone else
had the same experience.

How long did it take your kids to get over the flu? Emily is okay now (she had
it first), but all three boys have had fevers for four days so far.

Leslie

"Leslie" wrote in message
...
All four of my children have the flu. I thought I was
getting it too, because I was coughing, aching, had a
runny nose, and had a fever of 100, but the next
day I had no fever, just a cough and runny nose. IS
it possible I could have such a short bout of flu, or
do I have something else?

I would think it's most likely you have the same thing as your kids.

If a bf baby can somehow cause his mother to manufacture
antibodies to his illness in her milk, does that mean that she
has antibodies in her blood as well and that she will be less
ill if she catches what he has?

That could explain my experience this week. 9 days ago (a Monday) Julie
woke up with runny nose that developed into a cold. During the night
that following Thursday, Jaden came down with the cold. At 3:00 am on
Tuesday (yesterday) morning I woke up totally congested and figured I
was in for it, but by the time I got up Tuesday morning I was fine and
have been fine ever since. Jaden is already fine too, though Julie's
still coughing, so I have to think I was making antibodies, that he got
in my milk, starting from the time Julie came down with it and that
helped him get better faster than she did.
--
Cheryl S.
Mom to Julie, 2 yr., 8 mo.
And Jaden, 3 months

Cleaning the house while your children are small is like
shoveling the sidewalk while it's still snowing.

Leslie wrote:

How long did it take your kids to get over the flu?

Caterpillar is still a little feverish, and this is day 6.

Phoebe
--
yahoo address is unread - substitute mailbolt

"Leslie" wrote in message
...
How long did it take your kids to get over the flu? Emily is okay now
(she had
it first), but all three boys have had fevers for four days so far.

Vernon was the first to come down with it; he got sick the Friday night
before last. I'd say he had fever for a minimum of 4 days and was "not
himself" for a good week. Julian got sick in the wee hours of the following
Monday morning and he was the sickest of the lot. In addition to four days
of fever, he had a lot of trouble breathing and wound up on nebulizer
treatments every four hours, prednisone, and Zithromax (since we couldn't
get an x-ray to confirm/deny pneumonia, the pedi wanted to treat him as if
he had it, just in case). He was feeling a lot better by last Friday, but he
certainly wouldn't have been ready to go to school before Monday morning.
Aurora got it last, and I think she came down with it last Wednesday. She
also had fever for a good four days and is still not quite her usual, bouncy
self, though she's gone to preschool (albeit reluctantly) for the past two
days.

My husband and I were joking about how bad last week was and I said,
"College students have NO idea what "hell week" REALLY means!"
--
Be well, Barbara
(Julian [6], Aurora [4], and Vernon's [a quarter to 2] mom)

This week's special at the English Language Butcher Shop:
"Custom fabracation" -- Auto body shop sign

Daddy: You're up with the chickens this morning.
Aurora: No, I'm up with my dolls!

All opinions expressed in this post are well-reasoned and insightful.
Needless to say, they are not those of my Internet Service Provider, its
other subscribers or lackeys. Anyone who says otherwise is itchin' for a
fight. -- with apologies to Michael Feldman

(Leslie) wrote
If a bf baby can somehow cause his mother to manufacture antibodies to his
illness in her milk,

I may be wrong (in which case I'm sure someone will correct me), but
my understanding is that our bodies create antibodies to fight off
diseases that have already attacked our own bodies. If your BFing baby
has an illness you don't have, your body cannot create antibodies to
it. However, the antibodies your body does create, in reaction to
infections in your body, will pass to your BFing child. So, if you get
the illness first, the antibodies in your BM may prevent your BFing
child from getting it or, at least, will help his little body fight it
off.

Nevermind wrote:
(Leslie) wrote

If a bf baby can somehow cause his mother to manufacture antibodies to his
illness in her milk,


I may be wrong (in which case I'm sure someone will correct me), but
my understanding is that our bodies create antibodies to fight off
diseases that have already attacked our own bodies. If your BFing baby
has an illness you don't have, your body cannot create antibodies to
it.

I'm not sure.
It seems to me that one of the reasons I was not happy about the
non-weaning off the nipple shield is that I could not pick up early
infection from DS via his direct nursing on the areola and would
therefore not be as good at manufacturing antibodies for him.....not
sure where I read that it was possible..?

Dawn

This is so interesting that you, Barbara, and I have all experienced this,
Cheryl. I guess it's confirmation of my theory. :-) And whatever causes it,
I'm glad!

Leslie

I may be wrong (in which case I'm sure someone will correct me), but
my understanding is that our bodies create antibodies to fight off
diseases that have already attacked our own bodies. If your BFing baby
has an illness you don't have, your body cannot create antibodies to
it. However, the antibodies your body does create, in reaction to
infections in your body, will pass to your BFing child. So, if you get
the illness first, the antibodies in your BM may prevent your BFing
child from getting it or, at least, will help his little body fight it
off.


I don't understand how it works, but what I have read here is that a nursing
mother can make antibodies for her baby's illness even if she doesn't catch it.
It has to do with the baby's saliva getting into her system through the nipple
in some way. I'd love to read something scientific about it myself if anyone
can point the way.

Leslie