>If a mother had chicken pox when she was a child and now has breastfed >her infant, does she pass on any antibodies to protect her infant child >who now has been exposed to chicken pox? >I would think the infant may get the chicken pox but perhaps a mild case? >The infant is 4 months old. There are probably a lot of different stories on this topic, but ours is that when my 5 1/2 year old had chicken pox, the 1 1/2 year old (b'fed of course) got 3 little bumps and no other symptoms. The ped was quite surprised. When she was 5 she had her own full-blown case of it. I feel that she had some protection while she was breastfeeding. Patricia Gima, IBCLC Milwaukee mailto:[log in to unmask]