How to boost baby's immune system?

amother

Navy

Sun, Oct 21 2018, 11:39 am

My baby is 3 months old and has already been through the wringer. Mrsa, other infection, virus, cold, thrush... she's had antibiotics (no choice, was very serious) amongst other things. Any thoughts how I can boost her immune system? It seems so weak at this point. I never had anything like this with my other kids.

jerusalem90

Sun, Oct 21 2018, 12:42 pm

All I know of is breastfeeding and trying to keep her away from.germs/virus (aka keep away from other people as much as possible).

Behatzlacha!

HeartyAppetite

Sun, Oct 21 2018, 12:47 pm

If you’re breastfeeding, take probiotics and an immune booster.

amother

Copper

Sun, Oct 21 2018, 1:03 pm

As soon as she starts eating, introduce animal fat. Shmaltz or ghee (or even regular butter.) It's a huge immune boost. Bone broth (long-cooked chicken soup.)

amother

Navy

Sun, Oct 21 2018, 1:05 pm

She is fully breasfed and barely leaves the house, I work from home. But I do have older kids who go to school. And household help. And anyone who touches her must use purell, even my toddler knows that, though he isnt too good about remembering.
The pediatrician said not to give probiotics directly to such a small baby, just take it myself and hope some of it passes through the breastmilk.
What more can I do? Just take my own probiotic and hope for the best?

amother

Navy

Sun, Oct 21 2018, 1:09 pm

amother wrote:

As soon as she starts eating, introduce animal fat. Shmaltz or ghee (or even regular butter.) It's a huge immune boost. Bone broth (long-cooked chicken soup.)

I am such a long way off from starting food. I usually only introduce food at 8-9 months, or whenever they show interest, which by some kids has been even later. So this is of no help at all. I wamt to boost her system to help for this winter, not wait for summertime when kids get sick less anyway. I need ideas for now.
But I guess there arent really any

flowerpower

Sun, Oct 21 2018, 1:38 pm

If you are breastfeeding then take probiotics.

ra_mom

Sun, Oct 21 2018, 1:40 pm

Call a good health food store for guidance. They can tell you what's good for this issue and what's appropriate for this age.
In general to keep the bugs away we give vitamin C and pantothenic acid to help it be digested and absorbed.

amother

Slateblue

Sun, Oct 21 2018, 4:25 pm

You could try essential oils. I can't say whether they work or not - I never tried them consistently enough to see for myself - but you're looking for something that your baby doesn't have to ingest so this is what I thought of.

I'm not so familiar with it, I just learned a little by reading up on it (thanks to google and Amazon reviews which can be tremendously informative.) There are many different essential oils that are supposed to do different things but the one I got for boosting immunity is called thieves or five guards. According to the description it's called this because "5 Guards Synergy Blend of Essential Oils (thieves blend) is based off the yore tales of French thieves who survived the plague by covering themselves with cloves, rosemary, and other aromatics oils while robbing people during the plague". Here's the link to the one I bought but there are other companies that make it too:

https://smile.amazon.com/Guard.....psc=1

One way to use it is by putting a few drops in a diffuser with water. The diffuser I bought costs $15.99 and has very pretty, color changing lights. This is probably one of the least expensive diffusers and I'm happy with it but you'll see many different ones on Amazon if you search "essential oil diffusers". Here's the link to the one I bought:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/pr.....;th=1

Since your baby is very young, I would check with the doctor just to make sure but I'd assume it'll be fine because my doctor recommended Olbas essential oil for my kids (when they had colds to help with congestion) for as long as I can remember (though I don't recall exactly how old they were at the time, I know they were pretty young.)

For this second method, I would DEFINITELY check first with my doctor for such a young baby. I'm even afraid to suggest it because I really have no idea if it's ok or not but if you're doctor says no, maybe you could use it on the rest of your family so they don't get sick and pass it on to your baby. The second method is to dilute the essential oil with a carrier oil (making sure to use the correct proportions. I think the essential oil will come with those directions), put it in a roller bottle and roll it on the bottoms of your child's feet. The bottoms of the feet are supposed to be good for absorbing the essential oils so it gets into the bloodstream.

Here are links to the roller bottles and carrier oil I bought:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/pr.....psc=1

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/pr.....psc=1

Some other examples of carrier oils, besides grapeseed, are almond, avocado and jojoba.

Wishing you and your family a happy and healthy winter!