I've been following this thread with amusement and interest. I think that most of us agree that there is no threat with saliva left "clinging" to breast and nipple after a nursing session; heavens! Do the gorillas, cats and dogs wash off afterwards, too? However, I am wondering about the source of this concern. I have heard on occasion of women whose nipples just seem to "dissolve" into a bloody mass when breastfeeding when there is no apparent problem with suck and positioning. I am also thinking about those mothers who have had dermatitis reactions after their baby has started on solids. Could it be that concern has grown for a few select people out of the observations of occasional nipple soreness that has occurred under weird circumstances? I definitely know of cases where the reaction subsided with changes to the baby's diet--- perhaps some MDs have not differentiated the wholly breastfed baby from one who is ingesting other food. On the other item, I dealt indirectly with a mom who had a history of 2 babies and nipples that just seemed to dissolve into slime for no apparent reason. I never did get to see her and was dying to examine this phenomena; there may be something unusual that can occasionally happen, like the rare reaction of a woman to her partner's sperm. However, I think the main point is that these are all anomalies and NOT the norm. No need to treat the whole population for an unlikely complication. -Lisa ************************************************* Lisa Marasco, BA, LLLL, IBCLC [log in to unmask] / [log in to unmask] *************************************************