Babylune

Cold Remedies for Nursing Mothers

by kate baggott on April 9th, 2006

Kelly Mom to the rescue. Again.

I can’t count how many times I have entered a precise parenting/mother care issue into a search engine and had the site, written by a lactation consultant, answer that query exactly.

Today, I am looking for cold remedies that won’t affect my breastmilk. All the most practical information from natural remedies to over-the-counter preparations generally regarded as safe is there and organised as perfectly as any librarian would have made it.

A piece of information I found there, about the dangers of using menthol or even peppermint oil rubs on babies’ chests was also useful. While I had heard that kids under two shouldn’t have the rubs applied, I didn’t know why (it can cause breathing abnormalities).

It brought to mind the adage, “just because it’s natural, doesn’t mean it’s safe.”

I used to deal with my babies’ colds by adding a cup of peppermint tea to their bath water to open the breathing passages a little. It always seemed to relieve the little stuffy nose a bit and the doctor had no reaction when I told him that I do it, but even that remedy could cause more harm than good if the baby happened to have an allergy.

Herb and flower remedies can cause all kinds of irritations, I know from personal experience. Using herbal teas for medical conditions is very common here in Germany and most doctors will recommend various tea remedies before using heavier drugs to treat simple conditions. When I was in hospital after delivering the baby in December I had a slight cold and my room mate complained about my snoring. She woke me up every twenty minutes to tell me to roll over.

There was a food and drink station on the ward where all the new mothers could help themselves to a variety of teas. Peppermint and fennel teas, for example, are used to encourage milk production.

I saw a “broncial tea” and thought, “Oh! that will help my breathing so that I snore less and my room mate won’t be disturbed and wake me up.”

Except I had a mild allergic reaction to one of the flowers in the tea. It irritated my throat and, if anything, made my breathing worse. It was another sleepless night.

This time, saline drops and nasal suctioning are all the cold treatment baby gets. I, however, might take something a little stronger. Just definitely not broncial tea.

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