by Mary Jessica Hammes
August 03, 2010

Tommy has a fever. Even though it’s been almost two years since he’s napped regularly, he’s asleep before dinner, a little sweaty ball in his big boy bed. Earlier this year, I would have known just what to do to get the fever down and return life to normal: breastfeed. Now that he’s weaned, I time doses of acetaminophen and ibuprofen and encourage fluids and rub his back and give him smoothies and read books—all the time wondering what more I could be doing to help.

I remember breastfeeding so fondly: looking down at his face as his entire body melted into a state of complete contentment, the very definition of peace; snuggling up for early morning feedings and falling back to sleep together; knowing that my body could completely sustain another human being.

But what I loved most about breastfeeding is how it provided him with immunities long before his own immune system could completely mature. I loved knowing that if he was ill, my breast milk would not only give him emotional comfort, but much-needed antibodies. I loved how versatile the whole system was: I knew he’d be getting the specific antibodies he needed to face whatever bug was going around, because my body was creating them just for him.

He was such a healthy baby, and—present fever excluded—he continues to be a very healthy toddler. I love that I was able to help give him that immune boost when he needed it the most. —Mary Jessica Hammes, writer for babygooroo.com, mom to Tommy