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Parenting > Toddlers Forum > Mother's milk and antibodies
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Q: Mother's milk and antibodies
asked by: DoctorQuestion on May 20th, 2008
We have been working on weaning my 1 1/2 year old son from nursing. It is going well, except he has been sick three times in the last six weeks. Before this, he never had a flu or infection of any kind. I know it could be due to a number of things, but is it possible that weaning can cause fever and lower his immunity to flus, colds, etc.?


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Dr. Nikola Gjuzelov , MD
replied on May 21st, 2008
Toddlers Answer A4157
Mother’s milk contains antibodies and inflammatory cells that protect the baby from upper respiratory infections. But that is passive immunity that lasts as long as the baby breast feeds and receives antibodies from its mother. You can’t breast feed your baby forever so at one moment the baby’s immune system should struggle with the infections on its own. I believe that your baby doesn’t have low immunity but its immunity is not developed enough yet to struggle with the common infections from its environment.




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