This is from a friend of mine who BF her son (who has Autism) till 3yrs.

Krischne NMAA Counsellor and mum to four (11m to 6yrs)
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Hi Krischne,
Please post this on Lactnet if you want...

How would you like me to reply to this....it will not be a short answer. For
this LC and this Mum I could suggest heaps of internet sites to read....not
many related to breastfeeding. If the baby has gut related problems also
there is heaps of reading.

As you know my personal experience is of feeding Courtney until he was
almost 3 years. What you may not know is that he is now gluten intolerant
(has been diagnosed with celiac) and has other food allergies. I truly
believe his gut problem and his autism are related.....what caused the gut
problem is debatable but we suspect MMR as the cause. The test she talks
about is not available in Australia (from what I am told) and there is
certainly no compensation from the Govt if you child is damaged by an
immunization. I truly believe breastfeeding has meant the gut problem and
consequently the autism are not as bad as they could have been.....you
mention the brain development....I would say "at least". Also Bf got us both
through a very emotional time, we were very traumatized by all the testing
and new things happening to him. Bf is great for oral development - often a
big problem with kids with autism.

We never had mastitis or thrush!!!! And he didn't have antibiotics until he
was about 2 years. I have not heard of the mastitis/thrush conection but I
do know lots of kids with autism are diagnosed with overgrowths of thrush
(fungal - often referred to as candida) in their gut and are treated for
this. I also know lots of parents report their kids had lots of courses of
antibiotics.....maybe the antibiotics kill the good bacteria and allow the
candida to thrive.

I would be happy to email with this LC and/or the Mum.....just from
resources point of view, not necessarily related to bf.

If I were counselling this Mum I would try and arm her with several comments
she can sling back at the "when are you going to wean" people....just like
we would with any Mum..........."when you give me research to show me that
he is not getting benefit....I can give you plenty that he is",  " he enjoys
it, why should I take it away form him....especially now when we know his
developmental age is >>>>>(may be many months less than his actual age)",
"when he wants to", and some of the funny ones that often just shut them
up....."oh....sometime before he starts to drive....that would be really
difficult to feed and drive don't you think", "when my body stops producing
milk for him", .......

You might also like to mention the new list I am on. There are several of us
there with kids with autism.
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bye for now,
Del [log in to unmask]

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