dear lisa and all,

dr. jay gordon once answered this very question at a conference. a woman with
two children, both of whom had lots of ear infections, was puzzled
(distraught, actually) because of this. he said that the many factors that can
make a child vulnerable to ear infections are not all negated by
breastfeeding. for instance, if the eustachian tube is very short, for
instance, they will still get ill. but they are probably getting fewer ear
infections than they would if they were NOT breastfeeding.

perhaps in the practice of the pediatrician you mentioned, all the mothers use
pacifiers. this is a very popular method for infection to arrive.

carol b.