As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I am drafting a letter to a pediatrician I
saw here in Los Angeles with my 14-month old breastfed daughter.  I was
appalled by her lack of breastfeeding education.  The letter I have written
is about five pages, so I do not want to clog the list with it, but I would
like anyone who is interested to look at it for me.  Please email me and I
will send it to you as an attachment.

In the meantime, I will excerpt a piece of it here because I really need
some citations that maybe someone can help me with.

[EXCERPT FROM LETTER] You suggested that because Kaia is not drinking much
expressed breast milk during the day that I should provide her with soy or
cow’s milk.  In fact, I am pretty certain that you were about to recommend
that I supplement her with formula before remembering that she is already 14
months old and beyond the formula stage.

My concern with your recommendation is that it seems to be based on a belief
that human milk is not sufficient nutritionally for Kaia and that she
requires soy or cow’s milk or formula.  Human milk was designed for human
beings.  It is the perfect food for the child it is made for because it is
tailored to that child’s individual needs.  As a child nurses less, the fat
composition of the human milk actually increases to account for the less
frequent nursing.  Also, only human milk contains the immunological and
antibacterial properties that support a growing babies immune system.
Finally, only human milk has the appropriate amount of fatty acids necessary
to provide optimal nourishment for a growing baby’s brain.  [I NEED SOME
CITES TO SUPPORT THE ABOVE STATEMENTS.]  Therefore, at only fourteen months
old, and even far beyond, Kaia does not need any liquid other than human
milk.

2.      The iron in your milk is not bio-available to your baby, so you must feed
your baby iron-fortified cereal.

Your statement that the iron in my breast milk is not bio-available to Kaia
is absolutely incorrect. In fact, the opposite is true.  Human milk provides
the best form of readily absorbable iron in the right format and amounts; it
is the iron in formula and baby cereals that is less bio-available to
babies.   As recognized by Infact Canada, “much of the research into the
iron needs of infants during the first year of life is funded by the infant
feeding products industry and can be perceived to have a goal of creating
markets for products.”   About 50 percent of the iron in human milk is
absorbed, compared to seven percent absorption from formula and four percent
absorption from infant cereals. (Dallman, 1986). [WHAT IS THIS RESOURCE?]

Please let me know if you have the citations I need.

Also, I am thinking of turning this into an article for mother's who are
breastfeeding and dealing with unknowledgeable pediatrician's.  Please let
me know if you know of a website or magazine that would be interested in
such an article.

Alexis

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