Hi all, My name is Gail Benson. I am the mother of three (two with IDDM) and a LLL leader for about 10 yrs. My two older children -ages 12 and 9 - were both diagnosed with Type I diabetes at age 7. There was no family history up to that point of diabetes in either my husband's nor my family, so we were not watching for it, nor restricting dairy products in mother or babies. I wonder if their onset would have been delayed had I avoided dairy products while I was breastfeeding? Neither child had dairy before 1 year of age, and were breastfed until past 4 years of age. If I had it all to do over, I would find other sources of calcium during pregnancy and lactation. It couldn't hurt, and it might help a lot. I have heard of no studies documenting mothers consumption of dairy products being linked to the onset of IDDM, but the cow's milk protein does pass through the mother's milk, and early introduction of cow's milk does increase the chances of diabetes developing in prone individuals. This is just a personal anecdote, but if I ever become pregnant again, I will avoid dairy products. Thanks for letting me sound off! Gail Benson