Andrea Tran writes about a baby whose upper lip ocludes her nostrils when
latched to the breast.  It may be that the baby has poor lip tone, and that
the lips just sort of fold back.  You can check this a couple of ways.
Gently push on the lips while baby isn't nursing.  There should be some
resist.  They shouldn't just move where you push them.  When baby is at
breast, gently tug on the breast and see if it just slides out of the baby's
mouth.  The lips help stablize the breast in the mouth.    If the lip tone
is weak, there could be many reasons including:  birth injury causing
transient or permanent paralisis, infection or illness which is sapping the
infant's strength, neurological issues which have contributed to generalized
low tone.  Remember:  low tonality in the body extends to the muscles of the
face.  You might want to gently tap, stretch or circle the baby's mouth with
a knobby teething toy or a finger to "wake up" the facial muscles in a
attempt to improve tone.  You could also use a pacifier or finger and gently
pull on it in a tug-of-war fashion to encourage baby to use those muscles.
Barbara Wilson-Clay, BSEd, IBCLC
Austin Lactation Associates, Austin, Texas
http://www.jump.net/~bwc/lactnews.html

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