Hello to all,
I have been no mail for a bit over half a year, so I'll reintroduce myself.
I am an LC in Phoenix, Arizona.  I have a small group practice with two
other LC's.

A mom I have been working with for a long time has an 18 month old son.  He
was recently diagnosed with "white matter disease."  Basically, he has
difficulty with forming myelin in the brain.  He has started crawling only
within the last 30 days.  He still does not speak any words or anything that
even imitates words.  His mom is nursing for most of his nutrition.  He
refused solid foods until he was about 14 months and weighed 30# at a year
of age.  He is now eating a wide variety of foods while getting a
significant portion of calories from mom's milk.

I remember reading somewhere that one of the ways human milk aided in brain
development was to improve the myelinization of the nerves in the brain.  My
question is:  how long does this help?  Mom says if he decides to wean when
he gets older and the milk will help him, she will pump and continue to feed
him the milk for as long as it makes a difference.

If you would reply to me personally as well as the list, I would appreciate
it.  Thanks.

Linda Pohl, IBCLC
Phoenix, Arizona USA
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