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
>
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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