Breast Milk to the Rescue
April 29, 2007 by Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor
Filed under advantages of breastfeeding, breast milk, breastfeeding, health of the baby, mothering, toddler nursing
Okay, that title is a little dramatic, but I truly believe that breastfeeding kept my toddler out of the emergency room yesterday. She woke up with some sort of stomach virus and quickly started to become dehydrated. Fortunately I could convince her to nurse in between her requests for just a “tiny ‘yittle’ bit of water, pleeeease!” She couldn’t keep much down but it must have been enough to keep her from becoming severely dehydrated.
Fortunately after about 12 hours she could keep down breast milk and she made it through the night without further incident. She nursed several times throughout the night (I know we just night-weaned, but how could I deny a dehydrated, sick child?) In the morning, given that she’d only had breast milk and that little bit of water for 24 hours, I shouldn’t have been surprised by the newborn-like mustardy-looking diaper!
Now she’s got a high fever but she’s acting like herself again. She’s even had some cow’s milk and yogurt (whatever appeals to her at this point is fine with me). I’m just glad she had breast milk available to her when she really needed it.
When my oldest daughter was fifteen months old and still breastfeeding, she got hit with a stomach bug as well. What a lifesaver breastfeeding was! Breastmilk was the only thing that she could keep down, and I know that by nursing her I was comforting her in the best way possible.
A few weeks ago we all caught the stomach bug again. My seven month old only got sick once, and then was fine for the rest of the day. Yay breastmilk!
It’s such a relief when the baby does not get so sick! My daughter spiked a 104 fever last night (!) but she’s doing much better this morning, thank goodness!
When my baby was ill with bronchiolitis at nine weeks old the medical staff told me if I hadn’t been breastfeeding he would have been much worse and would probably have taken a lot longer to recover.
Well done for helping your just-weaned toddler through her tummy bug by breastfeeding her again!