Hello, I have been enjoying reading the posts on Lactnet the past few weeks. My name is Suzanne Tyler. I have been an LLLL in North Carolina for almost 10 years and will be sitting for the LC exam in July. I have an 11 year old son, Joshua and a 4 year old daughter, Mary Frances, who still loves her "milkies." I would like to present a situation, very hesitantly and with reservations because I am afraid you will think I am crazy for even asking about it. I do so at the urging and with the permission of the mother involved. I have been corresponding over e-mail with a mother in Taipei, Taiwan. She tells me that there is only a 3% breastfeeding rate there, she doesn't have much support from her baby's doctor and there is no LLL group or LC in the area. (Though I see on the statistics recently posted that there is one person on Lactnet in Taiwan.) She also tells me that there is much pollution in her area and an incinerator near by. Her daughter is 7 months old and exhibits some odd symptoms which may be due to allergies: frantic rubbing face/nose and flinching, turning head back and forth, red eyes, nightsweats. She exhibits these symptoms when going in and out of sleep and immediately upon being put into a position to breastfeed. When breastfeeding she will often sweat profusely (mostly her scalp) and have very clammy skin, then fall asleep while eating. The mother says the baby was colicky from about 2 weeks to 3 or 4 weeks when we slowly introduced Acidophilus bifidus (over 2 weeks' time) at the recommendation of their naturopathic doctor. In further discussion the mother said they had noticed a red diaper rash ring around the anus at times. The mother says the baby is very healthy otherwise, adequately gaining weight and progressing physically at a normal rate. Her personality is also seemingly unaffected. Here is the most odd thing. The baby does not have these symptoms when fed expressed breast milk from a bottle by the father. (This is why I am worried you will all think I am crazy for even asking. But I didn't want to just dismiss this mother's main question.) The mother is wondering if the factors in breastmilk that change when it is pumped and stored in the freezer could result in the baby not reacting to the pumped milk in the same way she reacts to breastfeeding. Now, I have to add that I have brainstormed with the mother about what else could be going on. Could the baby be reacting to something on the mother's body? (detergent, soap, deoderant, lycra in the bra, etc) I have also written to her about the most common allergies. She has eliminated cow's milk products from her diet but is hesitant to eliminate soy. I have given her lists of other possible allergens and explained elimination diets. The mother is considering weaning or exclusively bottle feeding breast milk as the baby is in such discomfort when nursing. Of course I urged her not to wean. What would she feed her daughter then? Formula made with cow's milk or soy? The two most common food allergens? I feel that this may not be a breastfeeding question at all and that something very different could be going on with this baby. I am certainly at my limit of what I could do as an LLL Leader over e-mail. When I write this mother again, I plan to suggest that she take the baby back to the doctor and/or to an allergist. Any other thoughts? Be gentle with me, Suzanne _________________________________________________________________ Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html