Catherine, thanks for writing in.  
No, this little one doesn't have a tongue-tie.  Rather disorganized
tongue movements, which is understandable in DS, but given a minute or
two of sucking on a finger or bottle nipple, she was able to suck well.
 Her muscle tone, if a scale existed, would be in the good-to-fair
category.  

She didn't go directly to breast and was getting overly agitated so Mom
fed her via bottle.  Once she had fed, she acted like she still wanted
a bit of something...Mom offered her the breast, she latched and
*stayed latched* for about 10 minutes, did very little sucking, but had
bright open eyes and was patting and stroking Mom's breast and clearly
just loving it.  It absolutely made my day.

One of those consultations that keeps ya going back...

Carole Jernigan
RN, BSN, IBCLC
San Diego, California  


> > Date:    Wed, 4 Oct 2006 23:41:51 -0400
> > From:    "Catherine Watson Genna, IBCLC" <[log in to unmask]>
> > Subject: Re: Downs Syndrome and anatomy
> > 
> > Is there a tongue tie? This is the kind of palate one would see
> with 
> > tongue restriction.
> > Also, the low muscle tone can cause tongue movements to be of poor 
> > strength and quality, so there is a failure to spread the palate
> > normally.
> > 
> > A high, unusually shaped palate is a feature of many genetic
> > disorders, 
> > either as part of the failure of normal development, or secondary
> to 
> > poor tongue mobility or poor neurological control of tongue
> > movements.
> > 
> > Many babies with DS can breastfed if given extra support, and some 
> > patience while they learn. Heart malformations make feeding a
> little 
> > more challenging, but if there is at least some bf going on, it is
> > more 
> > likely that the baby will transition to exclusive bf after heart
> > surgery.
> > Catherine Watson Genna, IBCLC  NYC
> > 


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