I need ideas from 1000 brilliant minds.

I'm seeing a 17 day old infant with a retracting tongue.  Her mom's nipples
and areolas are very tender.  The nipples are the cracked-bleeding-blistered
type.

The baby gained six ounces over birthweight in the first two weeks.  It was a
normal pregnancy and unmedicated birth.  She has a normal tongue peristalsis
with the expected cupped tongue configuration, but of course it's humped up
in the back.  Palate normal.  Frenulum okay.  When she's placed tummy down,
she can extend her tongue beyond the gumline, but she's not consistent with
this.  At rest, the tongue is held against the palate.  When her jaw drops,
the tongue retracts.

At the breast, she latches on with both lips flanged.  Her mouth is open to
about 90 degrees.  The tongue is not visible at the corner of the mouth.  No
clicking.  The cheeks aren't sucked in.  She has a well-coordinated
suck/swallow/breathe cycle at the normal one per second rate for a nutritive
suck.  During let-downs, there is audible gulping.  She makes happy baby
sounds.  After the feed, the nipple is wedge-shaped.

The mom is a brave soul.  She's determined to live with the pain if she has
to.  She is uncomfortable with nipple shields and alternative feeding
methods.  She rented a hospital-grade pump and uses it when she can't stand
the pain any longer.  Her husband feeds the expressed milk with the AVENT
nipple.

The baby CAN physically move her tongue forward.  Right now the milk transfer
is good.
How can she be trained to move her tongue forward when her current actions
are already milking the sinuses effectively?  What would you try?  What am I
missing?  Is retracting the tongue when the jaw is dropped a neurological,
mechanical or learned movement?

Any suggestions, ideas or anecdotes would be greatly appreciated!

Elizabeth Puzar, IBCLC