Re:  using lactose - free milk during/after diarrheal illness - no one
(except perhaps the manufacturer) recommends the use of this product.  The
American Academy of Pediatrics has a practice parameter on diarrheal
illness - they recommend breastfeeding during and after the illness, and
using regular formula if the baby is not breastfed.  Research has shown no
decrease in duration or severity of illness when the infant takes human
milk, or even artificial formula.

following from the syllabus for my standard one-hour breastfeeding lecture
to doctors:
        Incidence of diarrhea in children under three years of age is estimated
        to be 1.3 to 2.3 episodes per child per year. "Infants fed human milk can
be              nursed safely during episodes of diarrhea."  Ad libitum breastfeeding,
                        alternating if necessary with oral rehydration solution, is recommended.
        from:  American Academy of Pediatrics.  Practice Parameter: The Management
                of Acute Gastroenteritis in Young Children, Provisional. Committee on
Quality Improvement, Subcomm. on Acute Gastroenteritis, Pediatrics              1996,
97(3):424-435.

        Early feeding did not increase stool volume or dehydration.
                Brown KH, Gastanaduy AS  et al.  Effect of continued oral feeding on
clinical and nutritional outcomes of acute diarrhea in children.  J
Pediatrics      1988;112:191-200.

        Unrestricted breastfeeding did not prolong the course of illness or
increase                        stool output.
                Margolis PA. Litteer T, Hare N, Pichichero M. Effects of unrestricted
diet    on infantile diarrhea.  A practice-based study. Am J Dis Child
1990;144:162-4.


Julie Graves Moy, MD, MPH
Austin, Texas