No – whether it’s a cold, the dreaded flu, or something even worse like vomiting or diarrhoea, you should breastfeed as normal. If you are experiencing symptoms of mastitis, it’s also very important to keep breastfeeding and expressing – as this is the best way to get rid of it, painful as it may be. There’s no need to worry about your breast milk stream, as being sick won’t impact the flow.
It might seem counterintuitive, especially for new mums, but breastfeeding while sick is actually an effective way to transfer important antibodies to your baby. Its first job is to help protect bub from catching your bug, but even if they do catch it then those helpful antibodies will support their little system to fight it off faster and harder.