Mary wrote: "Does this mother have other symptoms of Over Active Ejection Reflex? My first guess would be OER. " I agree that we often see recurrent plugged ducts in concert with OAMER, but I still think that treatment needs to be constitutional and not simply a suppression of symptoms--so treating food allergies and other deficiencies in mom,using homeopathy, Magnesium, etc. <snip> "One of the things we found years ago, which has been ignored in recent years is that women with low salt intake often have more problems with both OER and mastitis. This is mainly anecdotal, but I have seen more women with both situations improve rapidly by simply salting their food. We had an explosion of OER in the late 80s, when the low salt diet fads were popular. Too many people, even now, think table salt is "bad" for them, and it simply isn't (unless she has some kidney problems, or sodium sensitive hypertension, which I doubt is the problem here.) " This concerns me, b/c cravings for salt reflect a craving for minerals. Since common table salt is stripped all nutritional value and it even poses significant health risks, I think it is a poor idea to encourage anyone to eat it. The bottom line is that we need salt and minerals, but we should not eat table salt. See Mercola's website: http://products.mercola.com/himalayan-salt/ <snip> "This baby is on solids (cereal, hmm, maybe talk to her about rethinking that, and using a food with better food value, like some fruit or veggies) make sure the baby has a FULL feeding at the breast before offering the solids, and if she doesn't' want the solids then, she simply doesn't need them. I have found, though having OER myself, that babies whose mamas have OER tend to do MUCH better with self feeding, little cubed pieces of cooked potato, cooked carrot, cooked apple, cooked pear, cooked squash peach, banana (watch for any constipation with this stuff) and allowing the baby to only eat what she can stuff into her mouth herself. This is an excellent plan to avoid over feeding of solids, especially if mom has OER, but for other babies, as well. " I agree. Cereal is nutrient-poor. All infant foods should be nutrient-dense and self-fed, whether the baby contends with OAMER or not. Jennifer Tow, IBCLC, CT, USA Intuitive Parenting Network LLC *********************************************** Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html To reach list owners: [log in to unmask] Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask] COMMANDS: 1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail 2. To start it again: set lactnet mail 3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet 4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome