Sandy Kelley wrote:
> HELP!! I just got a call that one of the breastfeeding moms I am working
> with was told to stop nursing her 5 month old infant due to him having
> eczema.  She herself has no signs of eczema and has TOTALLY taken out
> diary. Although I looked through the achieves I have not found anything
> about discontinuing breastfeeding.  Does anyone have any information about
> this?
               * * * * *
       Sandy, I'd be inclined to question exactly *why* ceasing
breastfeeding was recommended.  My first suspicion would be that the health
professional who ordered this was *not* au fait with the breastfeeding field
and had perhaps only looked at very old research (I can think of one of two
papers from the early-1980s).  Is it possible for the mother to get a second
opinion, or to have allergy testing as cow's milk and yoghurt in the
mother's diet are not the only possibilities?
     I don't have it in front of me, but there was a case series published
last year, and I think I mentioned it on Lactnet, that looked at babies
(newborns) who had severe reactions to items in their mothers' diets.  Cow's
milk allergy was the first thing suspected, but removal of bovine dairy
products made no difference.  Testing found that a number of other food
items were implicated, usually more than one.  These (from memory) included:
wheat, soy, fish and other items.  I think at least one fruit may have been
involved.  (I myself am allergic to bovine proteins, but soy is worse.)
    As the baby's reaction is eczema, one shouldn't rule out contact items,
as well as dietary ones, in any investigation.  In the late-1960s, the La
Leche League News printed a good example of this - the mother's hairspray.
Traces of hairspray were left on the mother's shoulder, the baby went on the
mother's shoulder after feeds.  When the mother put a cape round her
shoulders before using hairspray, taking it off before attending to her
baby, the baby's skin rash disappeared.  I've also seen a baby who developed
a skin rash after her father put floor-scouring powder into the washing
machine to whiten the nappies (diapers).  (He thought he'd show the mother
that *he* could do a better job!)  These are just two examples - there could
be others, and it might take creativity to find them.
    If the mother ends breastfeeding, what happens if her baby keeps on
having eczema on the substitute feeding?  or if the eczema returns after
temporarily clearing and then sensitising to the new product?  Few mothers
are keen to relactate, and she and her baby will have lost something
precious and beneficial.
    Cheers,
          Virginia
          in sunny Brisbane

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