In the "for what it's worth" department, I read once that the man who invented Vaseline used to eat a big spoonful of it every day, for his health!! In local day cares, they put it on every scrape or cut or burn that children get -- have never figured out why. Seems to me like it would lock in the germs! > "Bonnie Jones writes: > >Vaseline is a petroleum product, an indigestible mineral. What if the baby >ingests it, spits it up and inhales it? Couldn't it cause cronic pneumonia >since it is unlikely that the body could absorb it? I would be much more >comfortable with modified lanolin. Since it is of animal origin, it would >probably absorb eventually. If that is not an option (or perhaps if it is), >why not have her rub breast milk or colostrum into the nipple? Bonnie > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------- Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D. email: [log in to unmask] Anthropology Department phone: (409) 845-5256 Texas A&M University fax: (409) 845-4070 College Station, TX 77843-4352