Hi all.  I apologize if you are reading this twice.  I was very chagrined
to open up one of the "freebie" magazines (I got this one at Target, in
the US) and see a letter to the editor with  very innaccurate and
misleading information.  I will reprint this letter below, as well as the
address so that the letter writers among us can correct this bad
information.  Apparently, the May issue of the mag. ran an article called
"Ten Common Breastfeeding Myths."  I do not recall the exact article
contents, but a reader wrote in in this months issue having this to say:

        Omitted from "Ten Common Breastfeeding Myths" (May) was lactose
intolerance.  Although the condition usually develops in adolescence, it
occasionally afflicts newborns. Because lactose is the sugar in
breastmilk, an intolerance can cause serious problems if left undetected.
        When my daughter was seven weeks old, she began feeding
constantly, passing mucus [sic] in her stools, loosing weight, and
vomiting daily.  My doctor determined that she was not having an adverse
reaction to something I was eating, so he instructed me to stop
breastfeeding. Once my daughter went on formula, she began gaining
weight, and was fine.
        As infants, my siblings and I had similar problems with breast
milk. Although lactose intolerance may be rare, I think it is worth
mentioning.

                                Jessica Dufresne
                                Key West, Florida


My comments:  This was obviously a foremilk/hindmilk problem, that was
handled badly by her physician.  I have a *real* problem with the fact
that this magazine never checked the accuracy of this letter before its
publication.  *If* this child had galactosemia, wouldn't this have shown
up LONG before 7 weeks???  All you letter writers out there (and
especially any Doctors) please please drop a short note to the magazine
to let them know how wrong this advice was!! I can't believe that this
poor woman received this advice, and now she will most likely keep
passing it along to any other would-be breastfeeders she knows.  It is so
very sad that M.D.'s are not instructed about the possibility of a
foremilk imbalance.

The address to write is:

Reader Mail
BabyTalk Magazine
301 Howard St., 17th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105

Heidi Murphy                                    <[log in to unmask]>
Mommy to Peyton                              *****************************
(12-20-94)                                   *Human Milk for Human Babies*
                                             *****************************