In a message dated 97-06-26 18:22:21 EDT, you write:

<<  He is snorting less and now completes several feedings at
 the breast.  I wonder if there was some birth trauma - leading to edema -
 then a mucous build up.  I could not get any help from this ENT to work this
 threoy out. >>

I wonder sometimes if the babies that have trouble latching are the ones who
have had their little noses & throat vigorously suctioned out with the bulb
syringes.  Their mucus membranes are fragile, and a good suctioning with the
bulb syringe may not only cause edema in the nares, but can increase the
amount of mucus.  One wonders what happened before the invention of bulb
syringes.  The human race must have died out.  Yet here we are -- 5 billion
and counting.  Isn't it amazing?

I recently talked to a mom who complained about her month old baby who had a
cold and she was using saline drops and vigorously suctioning the nose --
wondering why it wasn't getting any better.  Hmmm....  She quit suctioning,
let the baby sneeze, the nose cleared, and within a couple of days, the
swelling in the nares went down and everyone was happy -- especially the
baby!

Jan B.