I'll bet one-sided toddler nursing is not only common, I'll bet there are mothers who don't even realize they're doing it until they're asked!  Those end-game (or even not-so-end-game) nursing months (or years) involve such casual and quirky breastfeeding that I wouldn't give it a second thought, let alone investigate possible cancer on that basis alone.  With one of my children, toward the end we had a day side and a night side.  He'd refuse the night side during the day and vice versa - totally a "mind game" on his part.  The 2 month old who begins to reject one side is one thing; the 2 year old is something entirely different.  As to expressing from the "off" side to see if the toddler will accept it, as a possible cancer "test" - it'll probably taste like involuting milk - salty, not very sweet - and could easily be rejected on those grounds alone.

How many of us who haven't breastfed *for at least 10 years* can express at least a tiny drop from at least one side?  I'll bet it's a lot of us, especially if we're good at hand expression and if we use a little persistence.  Those of you who qualify, try it, and tell us what color you get.  I'll start:  one side (the side I handle the most in phone calls and conference demos), the color of lemonade.  Got bored before I got anything from the other side.  My understanding (correct me if I'm wrong) is that *any* color is acceptable.  If I were worried about a dark color, my first approach would be to express some daily and see if the color cleared over a week or two.

Those ducts don't go away completely, and they're not air-filled; it makes sense to me that it'd always be possible to get tiny amounts out, and that the color might reflect bumps and bruises or other non-life-threatening events.  

Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC  Ithaca, NY  USA
www.wiessinger.baka.com

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