Parents are mixing human milk into their kids' cereals in hopes of giving them COVID-19 antibodies
- Some parents are breastfeeding their toddlers in hopes of protecting them from COVID-19.
- Parents who breastfeed for two years or more have been found to have higher antibody levels in their milk.
- However, it has yet to be seen if any immunity could be provided via nursing.
Some California parents have decided to continue nursing longer than officially recommended in hopes of passing COVID-19 antibodies onto their kids via breast milk, the
Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.
Until all children are approved to get the vaccine themselves, these moms believe indirect immunity is the next best way to protect their littlest ones.
Many of these parents were already breastfeeding advocates before the pandemic, reporter Marissa Evans wrote for the Times, and they've doubled down on their stance since promising research about antibodies in breast milk has emerged.
Some parents told Evans they have slipped their breast milk into their older children's breakfasts; since getting vaccinated and having a second baby, Melissa Pennel told the Times she's been pumping her breast milk and putting it in her 2-year-old's oatmeal, cereal, and smoothies.
In
a study published this month in Pediatrics, vaccinated mothers who continued breastfeeding for two years or more had "significantly higher" COVID-19 antibody concentrations in their milk than those with shorter breastfeeding periods. The official recommendation for nursing in the US is six months to one year, according to the
CDC.
The CDC has
urged all pregnant people to get multiple doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, since they have a higher risk of complications due to the disease. There is
plenty of data that shows vaccination is safe for both mother and child.
More research is needed to investigate how long COVID-19 antibodies last in breast milk, but the authors called for increased support and education about long breastfeeding periods during pandemic times.
CONTINUED:
Parents are mixing human milk into their kids' cereals in hopes of giving them COVID-19 antibodies, report says (yahoo.com)[/CENTER]