>I have heard Chele turns them upside down.  I wish I could remember the
>rationale for that, as I'm sure she has a good reason for doing so.

The original "orthodontic" teat and pacifier (called an exerciser) was
designed by an orthodontist who wanted bottle-fed babies to get similar
oral development that breastfed babies did.  It was created in the '60s and
looked like a different species from what we have today.  He sold his
patent and the design was lost.

The original teat was a large bulbous thing--about  2-2 1/2 inches wide and
2 inches high, not unlike a small breast.  (I had one, which I tried to
use, but my little one wanted nothing to do with it--orthodontic or not.)
The "nipple" part was rather long and the "breast" was rather soft. It had
a somewhat flat side which was supposed to go on the roof of the mouth.
There was one small hole on the top and end of the nipple (where it was
flat) which put the milk out in the back of the mouth. The whole idea was
for a feeding to take a good 20-30 minutes, with lots of vigorous suckling.
The directions were clear about that. I tried it once myself and it was
really a mouth full.

The "exerciser" was large too--rather filled the mouth--and the flat part
was on top and toward the end, for the roof of the mouth.

Some years after the orthodontist sold his patent, the manufacturer
switched the flat side to the tongue side, with the teat hole on the other
side, and a "nose cut out" on the side of the exerciser which made the flat
side be on the tongue.

I had one client whose little girl always flipped the pacifier around so
that the flat part was on the roof of her mouth, so Dad melted out a nose
space for her.

This is likely *much* more than you wanted to know about the origin of the
"Nuk" and why the flat side on the roof of the mouth is recommended by
some.  The whole shape is shrimpy compared to its beginnings. It is
anything but a "mouth full." And the flat side on the tongue almost
guarantees that the tongue will be pushed back.

Did anyone else on the list have one of the original ones?  I thought that
I *had* to have some bottles and teats and I heard about them from LLL, and
 ordered a couple to try.

Pat Gima, IBCLC
Milwaukee, Wisconsin


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