> Breech babies are often difficult to feed.  Because of their intrauterine
>  position, wedged up so that they cannot turn and present normally, they
>  often develop torticollis or other muscular tension that results from
>  inhibited freedom of movement.  Something I'm becomming real interested in
>  is the role of the tongue in shaping the palate.  If a baby in utero is
>  hyper flexed at the neck (tuck your chin tightly into your neck or twist
>  your head sideways and see what your tongue does) he may not be able to
>  comfortably rest the tongue so that it approximates and helps to properly
>  shape the palate.  I once put my finger into the mouth of a 2 mo. old with
>  FTT and, feeling the high, arched palate said:  Hmmmm.  I rarely feel a
>  palate shaped like this unless the baby is tongue-tied."  It didn't occur
> to
>  me that a two month old (foster child of a Leader) could have gone this
> long
>  with no one observing a tongue-tie, but after feeling the palate, when I
>  looked, there it was.  Tongue couldn't elevate properly hence palate
> wasn't
>  shaped normally. My
> guess is this breech in your client's baby somehow prevented normal
>  palate formation (the ridge and the flat palate).  There may also be
> muscle
>  tension preventing the baby from opening the jaws.
>
Sorry to quote at such length, but this interplay of developmental
factors is fascinating to me. To connect it to yet another, torticollis
is another problem seen more often in multiples. (It was on that list of
problems associated with late development, assymetry, facial palsy,
etc.) It would make sense that positioning in the uterus would affect
multiples' oral development this way, too, wouldn't it?
Jo-Anne Elder-Gomes, PhD still fascinated with any kind of research,
IBCLC learning to make the connections, LLLL unjustifiably proud: three
newly-pregnant mothers in our little Group, a new baby, and another due
soon. (Totally unjustified, but I am giving LLL a lot of credit,
forwarding it from a new mom who said: I am so glad I came here before I
had my baby! I know things went well because of it. I just knew I could
breastfeed :-)

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