Lower lip:
tickling the lower lip encourages the infant to stick its tongue out of its
mouth; therefore we get two desired results: One that  the tongue goes
under the nipple, and two that the baby opens it's mouth WIDE.

Another point though:
This tongue protrusion is also the same reason a baby can't eat solids, it
keeps "sticking" them out of its mouth.
Subtle hint for those people who think stuffing a two month old with solids
is a good idea.  "No, silly, he wants to nurse."

A reflex, sure, but still: It seems these babies are much smarter than most
people think.

Nofia


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: From: Val Best RN RM IBCLC <[log in to unmask]>
: To: [log in to unmask]
: Subject: lower lip vs. upper lip
: Date: Thursday, June 12, 1997 3:59 PM
:
: In trying to formulate a handout on Attachment and Positioning I have
: run into some confusion as to what lip gets tickled by the nipple??
: This may seem funny to some, but some books say lower, some say
: upper.  I am the Nursing Mums librarian for our local group so have
: access to heaps of books and it is about half half.  I myself say
: lower, but now am not sure I have been doing the right thing.  Any
: advice would be appreciated.
: Val in Busselton, Western Australia
: RN RM IBCLC