Babies and Colds
Shara Cohen
Wednesday, 25 April 2007 22:38 UTC
I have just come back from taking my daughter (who has a slight cold) round to see a new born baby girl. The mum (its her fourth, so shes quite laid back) wasnt very happy about the two girls getting close as she was concerned about the baby getting ill. It just striked me as odd as I was always very keen for my kids to get as many germs as early as possible (I am an immunologist by training by the way). Anyway, I just wondered whether anyone had any comments on this?
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Replies
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I think she was right… a newborn doesn’t have the capacity to develop antibodies in response to exposure and depends on mother’s milk for the first couple of months (6 or so I think?).
I’m not an immunologist, just what I remember reading about early development…
I don’t worry about germs and my kids after about 6 months or a year :)
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A newborn already has an intact immune system. The problem is it is just too naive and takes longer to respond to exposure.
Breast milk doesn’t pass on much antibodies to the baby specially since we don’t have porous stomachs to let the goodies in.But babies do get a good dose of antibodies from mother via placental transfer of IgG. So, it’s a small kick-start.
Overall, the sooner you are exposed, the sooner you are ready for more. But I can understand the newborn’s mother in asking to keep away from the sniffles.
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Rick, what in the world are you talking about?! Breast milk has been proven to have loads of immune properties that DOES transfer to the child. In fact, because most children’s immune systems don’t develop fully until they are past 3-4 years of age, breast milk can benefit them even after they would normally be weaned.
THE best place to get info on breastfeeding is kellymom.com and this article about how breast milk protects newborns is a good start.
As for our guts not being porous, that isn’t true for newborns which is all the more reason the breastfeed.
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Oh, back to the original question. ;)
I hear what you’re saying, Shara, but I don’t much like my child mingling with those who are visibly sick. Especially when it comes to cold viruses that mutate so quickly, one exposure won’t really strengthen the immune system as much as challenge it with potentially harmful sequelae especially for the very young. Colds in the newborn are especially troublesome since they can’t blow their noses and can’t even feed properly if they get sick.
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And good grief am I late to the conversation or what?!
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I stand corrected. I guess I must have picked up my info from some CSI episode or something… it was so far off!
Dr Hsien to the rescue! :)
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I am exactly the same way with my children I am always very careful about who they plays with because is the child looks sick I try to get her aways from them but.. I guess it isn’t always possible because kids will be kids.
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