just asked about taking cold meds while breastfeeding...?

Question

for 2 days now ive had a really bad sore throat and dry cough. is it at least safe to take like halls for temp relief? im just trying to drink lots of water and OJ but is cough drops safe to take?

Answer 1

Cough drops won't affect the little one, however, anything with alcohol in it as far as cough syrup, the effects can pass thru your milk. The least cough syrup might do would be to help the little one sleep, the most could be more long-term.

Answer 2

There's a really good reason why they want you to consult a physician before administering drugs to young children. The maturation of the immune system doesn't begin until the child is actually born. The progenitor cells begin selection at that point and so none are available for response to infection (secondary antibody mediated defense anyway) until the child reaches a few years of age. Also, in the absence of this response, that explains why sometimes symptoms seem so severe, because the intended response cannot be mounted in the child, so the body keeps trying to activate it, leading to elevated temperature, swelling, etc.

Most of the time, when you take your child to the doctor, they WILL give the child something you have at home. The reason they want you to bring your child in is so that they can monitor for adverse reactions. At that young age, it's not usually established exactly how people will respond, and sometimes the response had as a child differs greatly from that as an adult due to haplotype of the genetic imprint.

In summary, discretion is the better part of valor. If you're worried, do what's best for your child and let health care professionals assume liability and responsibility for monitoring any administration of drugs for your newborn. Good luck.

Answer 3

I would be careful about what cold medicines I took. Those with antihistamines or decongestants can cause your milk supply to decrease. The American Academy of Pediatrics has recommendations on what medications are safe to take while breastfeeding. I think you can find a summary of the list on the internet. I'm not sure if the menthol in halls is a good idea. I would probably avoid it. You could take zinc drops or vitamin C drops.

Answer 4

certainly. they do not have chemicals that are harmful and get into the blood. the chemicals work on you and nothing else.