i think mary makes an excellent point... as we learn more and get the message out about how implausible the normal reasons (excuses?) that women give for not breastfeeding (and the social pressures to b/f increase, especially amongst the middle classes) i'm sure that the reasons will just get more and more fascinatingly complicated.. this is not an attack on the mother who claims no lactose... like mary, i do not know the full details... and so i'm in no position to make judgement... but i am a cynic of cases like this in general.

someone tells me other day that her friend had to give up breastfeeding b/c she had to give up so much in her diet for her extremely sensitive/allergic child that she could no longer sustain herself with enough food... that she was starving to death..let's just say i'd like to see a middle class englishwoman's definition of starving to death... 

as breastfeeding becomes more of a cultural imperative for "good mothering" will women come up with more and more outlandishly "medical" reasons as to why they couldn't breastfeed?

to the message re: the baby with reflux... i think we may be looking at food intolerances and breastfeeding in the wrong way.. 

i have an allergic constitution, i have hay fever, had slight asthma as a child, grind my teeth at night, have recurrent thrush etc etc... i'm super-senstive to preservatives and additives in food and try to limit to almost nothing wheat, yeast and dairy in my diet (and no i wasn't breastfed).  my children are the same..and were b/f 12+mos but they are uber healthy... why?  because i acknowledge that these foods are not good for us.. our genetic constitutions cannot deal with intensively farmed and processed food and bovine infant milk... (food that humans never evolved to consume nor metabolize)... and so we do not eat these foods... when we do, yes they go off the rails: skin rashes, diarrhea, behavior problems, runny nose etc... 

i do not see that b/f failed my children b/c of their allergies... i feel that b/f liberatedt hem from an infancy that could have been filled with uncontrollable crying, eczema, asthma, stomach cramps, reflux etc if they'd been even further sensitized to cowsmilk and hydrolyzed vegetable protein...if their gut had been bombarded with "food" that we as humans were never designed to assimilate--- instead they had dairy-, sulphite- and wheat- free breastmilk that they thrived on while their gut matured (and continues to mature).

i find it fascinating that we are so emotionally connected to wheat and dairy in the northern european world (including the colonies) that the thought of eliminating them from one's diet sends people into panic... 

when i hear about an infant that is clearly reacting to something in mother's milk and mother refuses to look at her own diet.. and instead puts a 3 week old on formula and antacid i wonder why this happens??? 

is anyone doing research on this??? am i the only person in the world that sees reflux and eczema as a symptom that something else is wrong? 








Date:    Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:57:49 -0400
From:    "Mary Jozwiak BS, IBCLC, RLC" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: lactose in milk and other ramblings....

Kangaroos, likewise, have no lactose in their milk. (I sometimes start Ta=
lks=20
with the question of which animal has no Lactose in their milk. Someone=20=

invariably answers "Humans?")=20

I have never heard of a human woman making milk with no lactose. I wonder=
if=20
there is verification of these "tests." I have not "heard it all" (becaus=
e every=20
time I think I have, I hear something new) but, I have heard a lot of "th=
ey did=20
tests" only to find out, in reality NO or different tests were ever done.=
=20

Although, the woman in Maggie's group may have been telling the truth the=
=20
way it was told to HER, I have my doubts that it happened that way.

Many of us have had many clients with issues, who have been told their mi=
lk=20
was "worthless" with NO testing being done. Has anyone here ever been=20
present at what I can only conclude would be a "Lactoso-Crit" Test? (Don'=
t=20
even know if there is such a thing.)  Usually, breastfeeding is discourag=
ed out=20
of a woman, before such unusual tests are done. Of course, some Moms feel=
=20
awful when they realize that they were talked out of breastfeeding, and I=
=20
think all of us have been recipients of Tales of Woe which were significa=
ntly=20
changed from the original. (I am certainly NOT even suggesting Maggie or =
the=20
woman in her group is doing this, just that either or both of them were=20=

Recipients of one of these Tales.)=20

For Instance, not long ago (and I'll change it enough to protect) I refer=
a=20
client for a Frenectomy to a doctor I know well. I make sure that the Cli=
ent's=20
baby is well examined and that I fax a complete Lactation Report (sometim=
es=20
even with digital images) to this doctor, along with my findings, and my=20=

suggestions on what to do if he agrees with the Assessment. (He nearly=20=

always agrees and does the snip.) I never received permission to send a r=
eport=20
to the ENT for the Frenectomy, from this  Mother and, of course, the clie=
nt's=20
phone went unanswered for a while. I received a call a month or two later=
,=20
with the tale that that baby could take or tolerate "No formula" and that=
she=20
needed more help, as she had stopped BF a day or so after I first saw her=
.=20

I asked about the ENT, and she claimed she had seen him, and "He said the=
=20
baby wasn't tongue tied, and wouldn't do anything, just like I told you m=
y Ped=20
said." I then called the Doc, (She signed a HIPPA) and was told, No, the =
baby=20
had never been seen, and they had not been called. Although, I am sure sh=
e=20
tells many that her LC said the baby was TT and the Doctor said he wasn't=
, so=20
the LC missed the problem and now the baby "can't" nurse. (In fact, throu=
gh=20
the grape vine I KNOW she tells people this. *sigh*)=20

As we find solutions and treatment plans to more and more common and=20
uncommon breastfeeding issues and problems, and become better at spotting=
=20
issues so they can be remedied,  it seems more and more, people come up=20=

with strange and unheard of (but perfectly acceptable excuses, for the la=
y=20
person) excuses why "I couldn't, and it wasn't my fault."=20

I'll eat crow if there is actually any real evidence based data which sup=
ports=20
this "human who makes no lactose" story, but my guess is, I won't have to=
.=20

(I've started telling the people, (in jest) some of whom want everyone el=
se to=20
Work Out, I can't exercise because "I can't make enough sweat." Only a fe=
w=20
people "get it" and laugh, the rest look at me quizzically. Hint: It's an=
excuse,=20
in reality, I don't WANT to exercise. I have Fibro and it *hurts* and exh=
austs=20
me, I can always find something better to do etc. :) )=20

IF there is any evidence based research to this NO Lactose thing, I would=
like=20
to read it, though. One can always learn something new.=20

Mary Jozwiak IBCLC, RLC, LLLL
Private Practice=20

(Happy because I am going to watch my friends 6 month old for a few hours=
=20
today, while she meets a client for her Home Business. He gets his Mama's=
milk=20
in a little old fashioned Tupperware "Cuppy" (the shot glass size, in 60s=
colors,=20=20
with the lid,  remember those?) and has a blast playing with my kids, bei=
ng=20
read to, yelling at our lunch, gurgling at my dogs, and trying to grab th=
em and=20
riding in Hannah's old sling, on my hip and I get MY baby fix! Yes, this =
is the=20
little 3 week old, who lost a lb and who at one time didn't gain, and he =
is as=20
now as happy and fat, and totally breastfed as can be!)=20

             ***********************************************



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