Als. H. A synactive model of neonatal behavioral organization: Development
in the premature infant and for the support of infants and parents in the
neonatal intensive care environment.  Physical and Occupational Therapy in
Pediatrics, 1986; 6:3-53.

I was not familiar with this journal, but I found this article in one of the
Univ. of Texas libraries -- where the child devl stuff is.  Its a long
article, so I don't want to send hard copies.

Judy, I think the kind of arm flailing you describe (your infant was almost
asleep and was startled awake and flailed) was probably related to the Moro
reflex.  Just a startle reaction.  The kind of airplaning which is
indicative of a motoric stress signal or a sx of a neurological problem is
observed  while infant is awake and attempting to feed. It may occur with
other behaviors such as  grimicing, splayed fingers and truncal
hyperextensions.  Diffuse, frantic activity, etc.

The opposite may also be true.  Baby may go flaccid, yawn, avert gaze, shut
down and tune out.

Wolf and Glass in their very useful book, Feeding and Swallowing Disorders
in Infancy, talk about how observation of the timing of such behaviors gives
us clues as to what the problem triggering the stress might be.  If the
infant becomes frantic after swallowing, then maybe managing fluids is the
problem.  If they start to flaiL before even taking one swallow, perhaps
they have negative associations about the feeding position (head being
shoved, nose being occluded?) or of things aggressively entering their
mouths (tube feeds, vigorous suctioning?)

They make this point:  "Since the ultimate goal is to eliminate or modify
the source of stress (not just to modify the motor behavior), we must be
able to identify this underlying problem.  It is therefore critical to be
aware of what is happening during the feeding at the time of the stress cue,
as the same motoric behavior may have different causes in different children
and at different times."

Hope this is useful.
Barbara


Barbara Wilson-Clay, BS, IBCLC
Private Practice, Austin, Texas
Owner, Lactnews On-Line Conference Page
http://moontower.com/bwc/lactnews.html