I had to run this one by you all...This morning at the hosp I received
report about a baby on the unit that was being gavage fed as baby was
born 17 hours prior with two lower teeth. The peditrician was concerned
the baby would aspirate the teeth so he ordered no nursing/no bottles.
This is the mom's first, she wanted to nurse and was crying when I
walked into the room. The nurses were reluctant to call the ped, so of
course I did.  I mentioned the mom wanted to nurse, was crying, and I
wasn't aware of any references that contraindicated nursing with teeth.
The ped decided since the mom *so emotional*, she could nurse, but I had
to be careful the baby didn't aspirate the teeth.  This little one got
on and nursed as though he'd been nursing forever, audible swallows,
great jaw movements. It was beautiful and mom was crying with joy.  Is
this crazy???
Elisa Hirsch, RN, IBCLC
Westlake Village, CA