Hi, Jean.
       Sorry for the delay in answering.  With the holiday, I have been
visiting family and not keeping up with e-mails.  I don't know if the mother you
are working with is still in hospital.  I do think that once discharged, finding
a CranioSacral therapist could help a lot.  But to help in the immediate
time, so that she can continue trying to breastfeed and not give up before she
even has a chance to decide to find a therapist, you might suggest these ideas to
the mom.
       I realize that some of baby's problems seem to be related to what he
does with his tongue.  But he also seems not to be able to comfortably hold his
jaws open wide enough.  The mother might try to gently massage the
temporomandibular joint (TMJ) before each nursing. This might release some tension in
those muscles the could temporarily allow him to comfortably open wider.
       Another suggestion is from a long time ago.  It sometimes helped and
sometimes didn't, but perhaps it wouldn't hurt to try it here.  Before nursing,
have mom prepare two washcloths.  One should be dipped in warm water, and one
should be dipped in cold water.  Wring them both out so they aren't
drippy--what we want here is temperature change.  Then mom wipes in a circle around the
outer edges of baby's face, first with one temp and then with the other.
Wipe along hairline, then down in front of one ear, follow contour of jaw, up in
front of other ear, and back along hairline.  She should alternate so that she
wipes with each temperature (warm and cold) 3-4 times, but she should be sure
to end with the warm cloth.  I don't know why it works, but sometimes the
sudden temperature changes work to release tension in the jaw.  Again, I'm trying
to think of things that might help in the here and now, even if they don't
offer long-term solutions, that might make breastfeeding more tolerable for this
mother until she is able to get to someone else who can help her.
       How awful for this mother to have to deal with both the physical pain,
and the emotional pain of grief for things not going the way she imagined
when she thought she had done everything "right".  I hope she is able to hang in
there, although she might even decide to pump and use an alternative feeding
method to maintain supply until baby's jaw and tongue begin to move more
appropriately.
       Dee

Dee Kassing, BS, MLS, IBCLC
Collinsville, Illinois, in central USA

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html