Q: I am 35 years old and had my second son last year. He is nine months old now and is on breast milk apart from a balanced diet of rice, ragi and fruits through the day. Of late I have started giving him the normal packet milk twice a day (about 450 ml). In the nights after 8:00 pm, he is exclusively on breast milk. Now my problem is that I have been suffering from acute leg (right)pain especially in the knee and ankle. Is this related to calcium deficiency? I take a proper balanced diet with about 500 ml of milk every day. I had a bout of spondylosis a couple of years back. The pain is not currently there, but comes occasionally once in six months. Can I stop breast feeding my baby, as the pain is really unbearable during the night?

A:Pain from calcium deficiency is usually more generalised and tends to persist over days and weeks. It is not the episodic pain that you are describing. It is also not confined to one side or one joint; therefore, it is unlikely that your pain is from calcium deficiency. You are taking 500 ml milk, which should give you around 500 mg of calcium. Your daily requirement is about 1300 mg per day, which you could cover from the other sources in your diet. Your son is already nine months old, and by and large it is generally recommended that breast feeding should be continued till the child is about 12 months. However, you could stop early, provided sufficient supplementary food is being given. From the history that you have given I do not think your pain is related to your breast feeding or calcium deficiency. I would recommend during an episode of pain, you get yourself examined by an orthopaedic surgeon.