while it is obvious that the mother should continue to breastfeed her child
while in india, i must respectfully disagree with the BAB about giardia being
"not dangerous to the nursing child." i am wondering if they intended to say
that giardia in the mother is not dangerous to the nursing child.

as dr. jack pointed out, giardia is very common, especially here in the
"heart of the western wilderness." (that actually refers to kansas, but). in
fact, if you come to colorado you can count on every last drop of water that
is not treated - anywhere - having giardia. beaver are not the only animals,
most other mammals have it. it occasionally gets into the municipal water
supplies of various towns. it is very hard to detect from stool samples, and
can be transmitted very easily, yes, even by lack of thorough hand washing by
the mother.

one can have acute or chronic versions of this lovely parasite, and many who
live in the mountains have lifelong giardia. the treatment with flagyl does
not seem to be taken lightly by gastroenterologists, and it can cause serious
failure-to-thrive problems in infants and children. it's pretty unpleasant to
live with, more so with small children. just don't think it is too minor!

i can hardly feature the septuplets being breastfed, just from the surface
description of the family and their choices in this entire matter, they would
not seem to be practicing any kind of attachment parenting.

carol b.