Christa Burton knew that child custody battles could take unusual twists, but she never imagined that a court could tell her to stop breast-feeding her 14-month-old son, Carter.

That, however, was the recommendation of Carter's guardian ad litem, or court-appointed advocate, who recently reviewed the multiple medications Burton takes and recommended a halt to the feedings. A judge will consider whether to impose such a restriction next month.

"I thoroughly researched all my medications before starting to breast-feed," said the 31-year-old St. Cloud woman. "If I thought I was hurting Carter for a second, I would have stopped."

A Stearns County District Court judge will review the breast-feeding recommendation at a September hearing to determine parental custody of Carter. Currently, Burton has sole physical and legal custody of the toddler. His father, Andrew Ahmann, has petitioned for custody, too.

Burton's story has sparked national interest, transforming the mother and part-time real estate worker into a heroine for some breast-feeding advocates.

"I never set out to be an advocate," she said. "But I found this was the best thing for Carter."

However, Mark Toogood, who oversees the state's guardian ad litem program, said it shouldn't be considered far-fetched for a guardian to make such a recommendation.

Guardians, who are court-appointed advocates on behalf of children, typically investigate such factors as the physical and mental health of the child and parents, and that can include scrutiny of the child's medical records.

"Who knows what the guardian discovered during the course of the investigation?" Toogood said. "There's usually more going on in these cases than is publicly available."

Burton acknowledges that she takes Topamax, an anti-seizure medication to treat migraine headaches, Baclofen for treat muscle spasms, Ambien occasionally to help her sleep and Tylenol 3 at times.

She said that the nurse practitioner at her son's clinic encouraged her to nurse her son, who was born prematurely, and that one of her son's doctors wrote a letter to support of her breast-feeding.

In addition, she wrote to Thomas Hale, the author of a book called "Medications and Mother's Milk," asking him about the safety of the medications.

She forwarded his response to the Star Tribune. It said, in part: "They [the medications] are basically all fine, particularly in a 14-month-old infant who can metabolize drugs as good if not better than an adult."

Carter's father was not available for comment; his attorney, Kendra Geiger, said it was in the best interest of the child not to discuss the issue.

A challenge to a mother's right to breast-feed is rare in child custody cases, said Mike Dittberner, a veteran family law attorney and former chairman of the Minnesota Bar Association's family law section.

"I've never seen it in the context of taking medication," said the Edina attorney. "I've seen it when there were concerns raised about the child being too old for breast-feeding. But this might be something that needs to be looked into."

Burton said she first learned of the recommendation last week from her attorney, Tim Reuter of Sauk Rapids. Although a judge won't hear the case until next month, she has begun stocking up on baby formula this week and weaning Carter.

"It's my understanding that the judges take the recommendations of the guardian ad litems seriously," she said. "But it's killing me. The hardest part is the night feedings. I can't rock him to sleep and nurse him."