The common cold is a test that is unpleasant enough for every sick person. But no one is safe from this. Unfortunately, the nursing mother, too. And if a woman with a baby in her arms is sick, one more problem is added to her cure - to preserve the health of the child. Let's try to figure out what a nursing mother can have with a cold, and how to behave properly in this period of time.
To breastfeed or not to breastfeed - that’s the question
Indeed, it is very difficult both morally and physically when a woman with a small child falls into the arms of a cold. Indeed, in parallel with poor health, headache, and debilitating weakness, she was overcome by thoughts and doubts about how to behave in this situation. And one of the important questions is whether it is possible to feed mothers with colds. baby? If possible, then how to feed correctly so that the baby does not become infected? How likely is infection of the peanut through mom’s milk?
Doctors are unanimous in their opinion: do not stop breast-feeding a baby while his mother has a cold. And explain why. All signs of a cold in my mother’s body can be detected after the causative agents of the disease along with milk enter the baby’s body. But at the same time with milk, the immune defense against the attacking disease is transmitted to karapuz. That is why without mother’s milk, the baby does not receive any nutrition or protection against viruses. If the mother decided to express the milk, then it does not need to be boiled: during the boiling process, it will lose its medicinal properties and become inferior and practically useless for the baby.
To drugs - with great attention!
But the mother should pay close attention to the medicines taken during this period of time. Best of all, if you turn to them in the most extreme case, and expel the common cold by natural methods.
What can a nursing mother with a cold? Indeed, in this important period for them with the baby, not all medicines are permissible.
Important! There are many drugs that are prohibited during feeding, because through milk they can quite negatively affect the baby’s endocrine, digestive and central nervous systems, the metabolic process, they can increase blood coagulation, affect the joints, cause hemolytic anemia and other abnormalities that is developing.
How is a cold detected in a nursing mother?
As a rule, a person's disease occurs through his upper respiratory tract. And since the respiratory organs of a nursing mother work with a constant load, she is more susceptible to acute respiratory infections than the rest. After all, it is known that a lot of oxygen is needed to produce milk.
From the moment the virus enters the body, and before the disease develops, a very small amount of time passes - from a day to three. Therefore, even before it becomes visually clear that the baby got a cold, together with the causative agent of the disease, he receives antibodies to it and complete immune defense against possible complications. And so it turns out that when a mother is diagnosed with a disease, the baby is already sick or is actively immunized.
So do not ponder whether to breastfeed or not. It is better to find out what you can take with a cold to a nursing mother.
What signs of the disease can be found in a nursing mother?
These signs are not so many, but not one can be ignored. These include:
- nasal congestion or runny nose;
- coughing and sneezing;
- weakness;
- a feeling of sore throat;
- temperature rise;
- Sometimes there may be stuffy ears or tinnitus.
Most often, a cold lasts ten days. But do not neglect all possible measures aimed at getting rid of it, because there may be complications and exacerbations of chronic diseases. And what can a nursing mother with a cold, and what can not, she should know so as not to harm her baby and herself.
Natural Cold Remedies
1. It is recommended that nursing mother drink tea with honey and herbal decoctions of rose hips and chamomiles, lemons can be eaten.
2. Inhalations with medicinal herbs will be useful (you can both breathe over steam and using an inhaler).
3. In the area of the bronchi, iodine nets can be applied. Mustard plasters and medical banks are also useful.
At night, you can use an alcohol compress, gargle with baking soda, drip your nose with aloe juice.
We treat colds with medicines
It may also happen that a nursing mother has a high temperature for a long time. A woman does not tolerate this temperature well. In this case, elevated degrees must be reduced. What can you drink from a cold to a nursing mother? Doctors consider the drug “Paracetamol” to be the safest. If in the medicine cabinet of the young mother there is nothing more suitable, then it is one-time allowed to take any of the funds suitable for this.
To cure a sore throat, to get rid of a cough will help the means, the action of which is aimed at reducing intoxication and the strongest possible activation of the body's defenses. And we must not forget about the question: what can you drink with a cold to a nursing mother and whether to do it. Doctors are unanimous: you need to drink, and as much as possible. Thanks to heavy drinking, the nasal mucosa and the throat will not dry out, it will contribute to perspiration and liquefaction of sputum.
An expectorant such as Ambroxol (aka Lazolvan) will help reduce cough. Useful will be herbal preparations based on plantain, licorice root or anise ... These include Gedelix, Bronchicum, and Breast Eleksir.
Attention! Nursing mothers are contraindicated in those medicines that contain Bromhexine.
Antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effect will have Pinosol drops, which include substances of plant origin.
How to treat a cold for a nursing mother with folk remedies?
A huge number of mothers do not want to take medications, even if they are allowed. Instead, they use only folk methods that are trusted more. In a sense, this is absolutely the right decision, because some of them are not inferior in their effectiveness to industrial means. So how can you treat a cold to a nursing mother?
The most popular methods include the following:
1. Mustard powder can be poured into socks.
2. Cut the black radish into small slices, sprinkle these slices with sugar and put in the oven for 2 hours. Trace it all. Take one tablespoon a maximum of five times a day (and always before bedtime).
3. Stir five drops of iodine in half a cup of boiled water. Drink this mixture, and then chew a clove of garlic.
4. Before going to bed, it’s nice to drink this mixture: in a 1: 1 ratio, mix honey and finely chopped garlic. Wash down with clean, warm water.
5. At night, such a drink will be very effective: as soon as there is a suspicion that a cold has “come”, you need to heat half a liter of milk with one fresh chicken egg, one teaspoon of honey and one teaspoon of butter. All ingredients must be mixed very well.
6. It will be nice to bake ordinary onions in the oven and eat it without restriction until the end of the common cold.
A very simple advice: boil the potatoes in their skins and breathe over the steam. Be sure to carefully wrap up before this procedure.
Sore throat and nasal congestion. We fight for health
Here are some helpful tips from doctors that can significantly alleviate the condition. We learn how to treat a nursing mother with a cold.
If your nose is stuffy, then ...
Pregnant and lactating mothers are allowed to use Nazivin, Tetrizolin, and Nafazolin as vasoconstrictors. But it is not recommended to use these drugs for more than three days.
The best drops for this period for a woman will be Pinosol or Aflubin. They are made on the basis of medicinal herbs.
What can a nursing mother with a cold if she needs to clean her nose? Help saline solutions - Marimer. “Aquamaris” or “Salin”.
And the neck can be treated as follows.
If there is a strong cough, expectorants such as Ambroxol, both in tablets and in syrup, will come in handy.
It is permissible to use antiseptic agents - Hexoral spray, Strepsils, Sebidin tablets, rinses such as Kipferon, Interferon, and Grippferon.
Anesthetics and antipyretic “Paracetamol” and “Analgin” are quite acceptable. Aspirin can be taken only once.
What medicine can a nursing mother catch if she has pneumonia, tonsillitis, bronchitis, or otitis media? The doctor will prescribe antibiotics that have the smallest course of treatment and which are absolutely safe for lactation. Most often it is Solutab or Flemoxin.
Attentive attitude
In no case should nursing mothers take a medicine during lactation without a doctor’s recommendation. This can harm the baby.
Before you start using the drug, you must read the instructions, study the side effects and, of course, the doses that are allowed to nursing mothers.
You must be very careful about the folk remedies used, especially herbs.
It should be noted that during the illness it is necessary to carefully monitor the intake of fresh air into the room, use natural remedies for colds that are not forbidden by doctors, and apply preventive measures against the disease.