To Janet Simpson:

        In the mom with mastitis and a urinary tract infection and whose
infant was placed on pedialyte for the duration.

First,  Never place an infant on pedialyte for more than 24-48 hrs at most.
Pedialyte is a rehydrating solution,  and is by nature hypo-caloric,  it is
never used as a replacement for human or ABM milk formulations.  Pedialyte
only has about 100 calories per liter(3 cal/oz).   In essence they're
starving this child.

Dicloxacillin,  or a 1st or 2nd generation cephalosporin are quite good for
mastitis,  and would also probably be effective against the urinary tract
infection,  and seldom pose any problem for a breastfeeding infant.
Another good choice would be trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, maybe for 2-4
weeks to prevent recurrence of UTI.  The likelihood of kernicterus(due to
sulfas)  at this age is minimal.    Although Cipro would be very good for
this UTI,  in a breastfeeding mom, it would not be optimal,  nor probably
even necessary.

Again,  Pedialyte is a rehydrating solution,  never use it as a replacement
for milk.


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T.W. Hale, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Texas Tech University School of Medicine

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