Are you thinking of laryngomalacia?  This ia a softening of the supraglottic structures, usually primarily the epiglottis, that can cause inspiratory stridor as the airway flops in on itself and the laryngeal inlet is narrowed.  Tracheomalacia is a more distal lesion that typically causes fixed or expiratory stridor.  Both are normally watch-and-wait disorders with spontaneous resolution by 12 - 24 months.  My infant was just evaluated for laryngomalacia last week and it is NOT fun -- a flexible fiberoptic laryngoscope is passed through the nose down to the level of the vocal cords to directly view the larynx while the kiddo screams and screams (he has some redundancy of his aryepiglottic folds but not true laryngomalacia per se).  Stridor can also be heard during feeding if breathing isn't well-coordinated with swallowing and air is being inhaled against an incompletely relaxed glottis.

Has your mom tried other bottle nipples?  Tried feeding the baby in a complete side lying position?  We haven't yet found a safe alternative feeding method for my kid (fortunately he's gaining like crazy solely breastfeeding) but the side lying position for practicing bottles for when I return to work seems to cause him the least distress.

Good luck to this mom.

Sarah Reece-Stremtan MD (peds anesthesiologist)

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