I have a son who is now 12 who was diagnosed with ADD at the age of 6.  He would
spend hours sitting quietly at his desk at school, never getting anything
accomplished.  This child breastfed three and half years, had an unmedicated
birth, weighed 9 and a half pounds, and was kept close and loved just the same
as my other 3 children, yet he has struggled with learning to read and
concentrate on written material since day one.  When he was 4 and we were riding
past a school he looked at it and said, Mom I can't go there because I don't
learn like other kids do.  And he was right.So now we learn all we can about
this disorder, and we hear lots of advice from all sorts of people, including
relatives, friends, and neighbors, and we do the best we can.  He is a bright
sensitive boy, has also received the label of academically gifted.  I do not
know the breastfeeding connection, but I do feel he got the best we had to
offer, and always will.  He finds that Ritalin helps him tremendously and takes
it twice a day.  From the first day he took it, he has noticed a differrence in
himself, and he likes the difference, and he can finish his work and feel a part
of the group. It took me two years of deliberation before I was able to make the
first step and give him that medication.I would love to talk to other LCs with
personal experience with this.

A note on lumps under the armpits.  My sister developed golf ball sized lumps
under each arm while breastfeeding her first child, who is now 21.  They
enlarged while nursing and got smaller when she was not nursing.  After she
weaned her third son who is now 15, she still had the lumps, and they are soft
and painless, and the MD says they are her breast tissue.  Her main concern with
them is that she doesn't feel comfortable wearing sleeveless tops, because she
feels they are so noticeable, but other than that they have caused her no
problems.

I have another thought that I have been wondering for a long time and wonder if
it is off the wall.  I was wondering if breast milk, particularly the early
breast milk with colostrum, would be beneficial to people with AIDS.
Particularly infants who have been exposed to AIDS.  (I don't mean the moms milk
who has AIDS who has given birth to the child, but someone not HIV positive's
milk)  With so many moms choosing to formula feed, I wonder.....  Is this idea
crazy?

Please email me privately on the ADD issue.  I would surely appreciate it.

Ann Calandro, RNC, IBCLC
Waxhaw, NC