To   : Diane Kemp
Re   : Vitamin E oil on nipples

In 1984, about 38 infants died in Neonatal intensive care units across the
US following IV injections of 25-50 IU/day of Vitamin E.

Vitamin E traffics to the liver and some to the spleen. These infants died
of heptosplenomegaly and liver failure.  We  are still not certain why.

Further, there is no good documentation that Vitamin E on the nipple works
any better than any other lubricant,  although many people seem to think it
does.

I would like to suggest the following:  If a mom wants to use vitamin E on
her nipple,  make sure the dose is very small like 25 IU and then only
infrequently during the day so that the dose an infant would ingest would
be minimal.  NEVER use the pure vitamin E oil.  It contains approximately
700-1000 units of Vitamin E per gram.  This is very very concentrated stuff
and a mom using this 5-10 times daily would provide a massive dose to her
infant in the thousands of units per day.  This could be potentially
dangerous.


Tom Hale