I'm posting this with permission from the mother. I figured someone here
might be able to offer input:

My dd had to see a kidney specialist because our doctor thought she had
something called renal tubular acidosis (RTA). An initial blood test showed
a low CO2, which is one of the things they use to diagnose.  Subsequent
blood tests showed a normal CO2 but her venous blood ph was acidotic.  A
urine test at that time showed that her urine was alkalotic.  Both the blood
ph being acidotic and the urine being alkalotic are both indicators of  RTA.
However, because the CO2 was normal, the doctor said she didn't have RTA.

Now, here comes the part to do with breastfeeding.  He said that the reason
her
urine was alkalotic was because that is normal for a breastfed baby.  I've
never heard of that.  I can see that possibly being true for an exclusively
breastfed baby, but my dd is almost 14 months old and eats lots of table
food in addition to sippy cups of  whole milk and Pediasure.  She does nurse
quite a bit but no where near being exclusive.

I'm worried that he is dismissing the abnormal tests just because the CO2
was normal the second time they did the test.  He didn't give me a
satisfactory answer as to why her blood ph was acidotic either. Said maybe
she was holding
her breath when they took the blood.  I was there.  She was not holding her
breath--in fact--she was crying quite a bit.

At the time of the visit to the doctor, I was just so happy that he said she
didn't have RTA, that I didn't question him too much, but now I'm thinking I
should have.

So, if anyone has info on breastfed babies having urine that is more
alkaline than a ff baby, I'd really appreciate if they could post/email it
to me.  If I
see that it is true, then my mind will be more at ease (though I'll still be
keeping my eyes open for other signs of RTA).

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