Good grief!  Don't know about hormones in breastmilk causing acne (couldn't
find anything in Lawrence or Riordan on this), but many cases of 'neonatal
acne' are actually minor cases of excema and especially so if the baby also
shows signs of "colic" or diaper rash.  If this is the case, mom may want to
investigate food sensitivity - often cow's milk and products.  In my
experience doctor's seem very reluctant to recognize excema in infants;
maybe concerned about 'over-diagnosing'.  To test, mom goes off dairy (and
no formula for baby ) for two weeks; colic symptoms may worsen day 4 or 5 as
baby may go through 'withdrawal'; check with HP about calcium supplement for
mom.  Advanced excema can take up to 6 weeks to clear, but mother should see
improvement before then if it is dairy (or other ) food sensitivity.

Small excerpt from allergy article
http://www.lalecheleague.org/NB/NBJulAug98p100.html
Leader version is at
http://www.lalecheleague.org/llleaderweb/LV/LVAugSep97p75.html

"Lists of the foods most likely to trigger allergic responses differ from
source to source and culture to culture, but cow's milk and dairy products
top them all. There are more than 20 substances in cow's milk that have been
shown to be human allergens (Stigler 1985). Colic and vomiting are often
caused by cow's milk allergy. Eczema--dry, rough, red skin patches which can
progress to open, weeping sores--is another common symptom among children
allergic to cow's milk. Cow's milk has been found to cause sleeplessness in
infants and toddlers. Dairy allergy has also been suggested as a cause of
bed wetting in an older child."

Thanks again, Karen Zeretzke, for writing these awesome articles!

Michelle Bentley CLE

----- Original Message -----
> Can anyone tell me about neonatal acne? my understanding is that it is
> caused by a drop in oestrogen levels in the baby.
> The mother of a six-week old baby who comes to my support group has been
> told by her GP that "it is caused by her 'breastfeeding hormones' and wont
> go until she stops breastfeeding".  Hilary Myers in Somerset

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