There is nothing worse than being sick. It’s even harder when you still need to breastfeed when all you want to do is sleep and there’s nothing that sounds good to eat or drink. So what can you take get help feel better fast? There are still safe medications and herbs/supplements. Thomas Hale wrote the textbook on medications and breast milk and categorized medications as follows:
L1 Safest
L2 Safer
L3 Probably safe
L4 Possibly hazardous
L5 Hazardous
🤒Pain and fever
👍🏼Ibuprofen (Motrin/advil), acetaminophen (Tylenol), and paracetamol (L1) are safe to take while breastfeeding.
👎🏻Aspirin (L2) can pass into human milk and cause a serious condition called Reye’s syndrome in baby. Reye’s syndrome is associated with brain and liver damage.
👎🏻Use of codeine is not recommended while breastfeeding. If essential, and only where there is no alternative, it should be at the lowest effective dose, for the shortest possible duration and you should stop taking it and seek medical advice, if you notices side effects in baby such as:
- Breathing Problems
- Lethargy
- Poor Feeding
- Drowsiness
- Bradycardia (slow heart beat)
🤧Sinus congestion
👍🏼Saline rinse L1
👍🏼Afrin and Nasacort L3 Because these medicines are not absorbed well from the nasal passages, they don’t have the same effect on milk supply that decongestants taken by mouth can have.
👎🏻Pseudoephedrine L3
Medications containing pseudoephedrine (Sudafed, Zyrtec D) — use with caution because they can decrease milk supply
😮💨Cough/chest congestion
👍🏼Guaifenesin (Robitussin/Mucinex) L2
👍🏼Dextromethorphan (Robitussin DM/Delsym) L3 The amounts of dextromethorphan and its active metabolite in breastmilk are very low and are not expected to affect the nursing infant. It is best to avoid the use of products with a high alcohol content while nursing.
Not sure if the medications you want to take is safe? Call Infant Risk at 806-352-2519
Kellymom.com also is a phenomenal resource for safe things you can take and do while sick and breastfeeding