Cocooning: Protect Your Baby From Illness

Whooping cough, flu and Covid are highly contagious diseases that can be serious and even deadly to infants and children. Newborns and young infants are at the greatest risk because they are most vulnerable to complications and lack vaccine protection. So, what can parents do? They can cocoon their baby.

Every year, more than 20,000 children younger than five years are hospitalized due to flu complications in the U.S. and an additional 3,000 due to Covid. Many more have to go to a doctor, urgent care or the emergency room because of these illnesses.  

Whooping cough (Pertussis), which can appear like a cold in adults, has made a comeback in recent years in the U.S. This makes the vaccination of children and adults more important than ever.  

What is cocooning? Cocooning provides surrounding protection by having every single child and adult that comes into contact with your baby immunized against whooping cough, flu, Covid and other vaccine-preventable illnesses. If every child and adult who surrounds a newborn is immunized, the likelihood of the baby getting these serious infections approaches zero.  

Most newborns get these infectious diseases from their family or adults around them. Siblings have been shown to be one of the most common sources of infection. It could be anyone—parents, grandparents, siblings, relatives, friends or babysitters. By surrounding your baby with only immunized people, you cocoon the baby against serious infections.

Vaccines for the flu, Whooping cough (Tdap) and Covid are readily available at your doctor’s office and many pharmacies. Additionally it is recommended that pregnant women receive these vaccines to provide direct protection to their young babies. These antibodies in mom are also passed to her baby through breastmilk offering protection.

Ask your doctor if you have any questions or concerns about these vaccines.  

See these articles for additional information on this and related topics:
 

• Whooping Cough: What Parents Need To Know
• Protect Against Flu: Caregivers of Infants and Young Children
• Covid 19 Vaccines While Pregnant and Breastfeeding

Call (866) MY-LI-DOC (866-695-4362) to find a Catholic Health physician near you.

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