Baby Parenting Guide

How safe is it to get a flu shot while breast feeding?

I am wondering if you can provide links with info on the safety of getting a flu shot while breast feeding. Also, I always get a bad reaction to flu shots, could the flu spread to my newborn baby easily?

Public Response to How safe is it to get a flu shot while breast feeding?

1. The flu shot is okay to get when you're pregnant, so I don't see why it would be a problem when you're breastfeeding.
2. It's Safe
3. It's safe and I have done it with 2 of my 3 kids with zero reactions. I also had my 9 month old get the flu vaccine and he was totally fine. Let me ask you this...How SAFE is it to pass the flu on to your baby? Have you looked up mortality rates? It can be life threatening. Would you be comfortable with a seriously ill baby?
4. Just make sure to get a Themerosol FREE form of the vaccine.
5. Much safer than getting the flu. Especially if your baby is less than 6 months old and can't get a flu shot. You being vaccinated can prevent the baby from getting it. Your baby has almost no immune system-if you get the flu, your baby will too. It is much more severe in a newborn than it will be for you too.
6. The manufacturers of the flu vaccines say in the package inserts that the "safety and effectiveness" of their flu vaccines "have not been established in pregnant women or nursing mothers." http://www.afluria.com/docs/pi.pdf http://us.gsk.com/products/assets/us_flulaval.pdf http://www.fda.gov/CBER/label/fluvirinLB.pdf Whil you're reading those package inserts, check out the mercury content of the vaccines--a whopping 24.5 or 25 mcg of mercury, 83 times what is considered to be a "trace amount," which is anything less than 0.3 mcg.