Pat,
I have seen a mother with hives during breastfeeding.  She took half a dose of
benadryl elixor  three times a day for a few days on the advice of Dr. Giosi
DiMeglio, and they resolved.  According to Giosi, Ruth Lawrence (MD,
Rochester) has seen a few cases too, though I don't know if she wrote them up
in her textbook.  If the hives are truly related to breastfeeding, they
usually intensify during or immediately after a feeding.  It could also be
something that she is putting on her baby - lotion, soap, whatever that mom is
allergic to.  She probably did not have as much skin to skin contact with her
first two (bottlefed) children as with this breastfed one...
Catherine Watson Genna, IBCLC  NYC  [log in to unmask]