>        A Mum phone me to say that she had been breastfeeding for 3 months.
>She tells me that her hair is falling out in bunches - do any of you have
>any suggestion as to why this could be happening and what can she do about
>it?

We have covered this before, so it should be in the archives. Basically,
it's nothing to do with breastfeeding. It might be caused by an underlying
illness (so worth getting checked by doctor), or can be just catching up
after less hair loss during pregnancy (someone else mentioned this). Other
thing to bear in mind is that trauma of any kind can precipitate hair loss,
and it typically occurs 3 to 4 months following the traumatic event.


>      At the moment I have a Paed whipping my breastfed babies off the
>breast because they have "Lactose Intolerance" - in fact the clinic sister
>are doing the same now!   Any advice?   (I know what I'd like to do!)

Oh boy, one of my 'favourite' subjects!! First you have to make sure it is
not just 'lactose overload' rather than intolerance, ie too much milk, too
fast. Many people mistake this for lactose intolerance and it's simply a
breastfeeding management issue.

Real lactose intolerance in babies is almost always secondary to something
causing gut damage, so you need to find the cause of the damage, and fix
that, and the lactose intolerance will go away by itself. If you don't
address the cause, then swapping to lactose-free formula will then just
mask it temporarily, but the problem will not be solved. Trouble is that
often doctors who 'solve' the problem with taking babies off the breast
usually don't see the child later down the track and therefore realise that
there was something else going on (eg allergy or food intolerance). In some
severe cases, the babies may need to be temporarily taken off the breast,
or given alternate feeds, but only if the underlying cause is being
addressed as well.

As far as what you can do about others, such as health professionals, not
understanding this, I advocate educating the parents so they can question
the advice. I have written an article in the NMAA Newsletter (Members'
magazine, Summer 1999 issue) in Australia directed at parents, which has
proven to be useful in this situation.

******************************************************************
Joy Anderson B.Sc. Dip.Ed. Grad.Dip.Med.Tech. IBCLC
Nursing Mothers' Association of Australia Breastfeeding Counsellor
Perth, Western Australia.   mailto:[log in to unmask]
******************************************************************

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