>Gayle Prehn <[log in to unmask]> posted:
>
>I just got off the phone with a mom who was engorged because she had tried
>to abruptly wean her 13 mo because the ped had expressed concern over the
>little girls breast buds.  Mom states that child has always had buds, but
>this is the first time that it was brought up as a concern.  Ped stated
>that she thought that it is something that they should watch and that
>perhaps the nursing had something to do with it.  Baby only nurses 3 times
>a day and all of those are during the night.  Last night was most
>uncomfortable for both of them.  Baby wailed until 4 AM and mom's breast
>are ready to burst.  I told mom to nurse, one more day would not make a
>difference and I was pretty confident that nursing had nothing to do with
>the breast buds, and said that I would check here to see what I could find
>as support for that position.  Dad is an MD and would appreciate
>the "proof".   I check the archives and got some comments on the subject
>from Jack Newman from 2000.  Anybody have anything specific on this topic.
>Thanks.

My hunch is that the ped is concerned about estrogens in the breastmilk.
According to a recent review on the estrogenic activity of endogenous and
exogenous chemicals in breastmilk and formula
(<http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2003/6023/abstract.html>), the
available evidence does not indicate that there's any link between
breastfeeding and estrogenic effects in a child. The article mentions a
potential for pharmaceuticals such as birth control pills to have a
hormonal effect in a breastfed child (e.g., there's a case report of breast
enlargement in a breastfed 18-month-old girl whose mom used oral
contraceptives), but that's a far cry from there being actual proof.

As an aside there's no all that much data on what's "normal" with regard to
hormonally responsive tissue in infants and young children. (Gross
abnormalities excepted.) I'd write more but we've got a potty emergency
here. :-o

in haste,
Julia

Julia R. Barrett
Freelance Science Writer
Madison, Wisconsin
608-238-8409; [log in to unmask]

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