Received a phone call from a frantic mother whose 10 month old totally
b/f baby was taken to the ER because baby was vomiting.  Baby had surgery
for removal of benign cyst two weeks ago and everything went well.  When
baby began vomiting, mother was concerned because of the recent surgery.
ER doctor told mother the baby just had a gastrointestinal virus (flu?),
no fever, no signs of dehydration---but dr. told mother to take the baby
off of all dairy products INCLUDING BREASTMILK for next 48 hours and to
give the baby P___lyte.  Mom tried to explain to the dr. that the child
would not eat or drink anything but breastmilk, but dr. was adamant that
breastmilk was a dairy product because the b/m was curdled when it was
vomited.  Mom called me in tears to say that she had gone ahead and
breastfed the baby because he was so hungry and stressed when she tried
to get him to drink the P. The baby has been active and doing much better
with fewer episodes of (none in last 12 hours).  My question is this,
what can I give to the e/r doctors to address their misconceptions
regarding breastmilk being considered a dairy product.  One of the ER
docs is the father of my youngest son's best friend, so I do have a
avenue to get this information across to the other doctors.  Any
suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

TIA,

Barbara Redinger, LLLL, IBCLC
Chilly, but sunny Ohio (frost warning tonight!)