 Dr.
Jane Morton,
Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford University School
of Medicine, is an expert on nursing premature infants as well
as a
member of the Breastfeeding.com medical advisory board. Dr.
Morton has answered many of your breastfeeding questions.
Dr. Morton works one-on-one with new mothers at the
Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford University,
teaching moms how to breastfeed successfully. In 1997, Focus
Magazine named Dr. Morton one of the "Best Doctors in the
Bay Area," and she was again selected by her peers as one
of "Silicon Valley's Best Physicians" as reported in
The Sane Jose Magazine in 1999.
 Daughter has chickenpox, is
it affecting her nursing?
| NAME: |
Dawne |
| BABY'S NAME: |
Michelle |
| BABY'S AGE: |
8 1/2 months
|
|
BIRTH WEIGHT: |
8 lbs 6.7 oz
|
|
CURRENT WEIGHT: |
19 lbs 2.2 oz
|
Just
recently my daughter has come down with Chickenpox. I am finding
now that she is not nursing as well as she normally does. She is
also not as interested in eating her solids. I have tried to
look in her mouth, but she has been fighting me on that - she is
also teething on top of the chickenpox. Could the chickenpox be
affecting her nursing? I am also curious as to how long she will
be contagious with the chickenpox? She first started breaking
out on Sat June 25th - exactly 2 weeks since she had been
exposed. Thank you.
Dear
Dawne,
As we discussed before, chicken pox is usually not too severe in
a child this young. Lesions may very well develop on mucosal
surfaces, such as the mouth or the genitalia. Also, remember
that when you are sick with any infection, your appetite goes
down. It is very common for babies to prefer fluids rather than
solids even with a bad cold. I would not be so concerned about
this, but simply respect her cues that she is not hungry, as
much as you respect her cues when she is.
Parents usually become very concerned that their children
need to drink a lot, or they become dehydrated. The way that
babies become dehydrated is usually not from refusing to drink,
but due to vomiting or massive diarrhea. A child who is not
lethargic and extremely ill, but who is becoming dehydrated,
will usually readily drink so that most babies who refuse to
drink when they are sick don't need to drink. Forcing them to
drink is much more likely to provoke vomiting.
Children with chicken pox are usually contagious for about 5-7
days before their lesions have become crusted. The incubation
period (the time between exposure and clinical disease) is
usually 2-3 weeks.
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