Sharon posts about a well-gaining baby who smacks while nursing.  I would
assume (and here's the risk of not seeing it for myself-- because in the
absence of observation there is only imagination) that baby is losing
suction, the nipple is slipping to the front of baby's mouth, allowing
tongue to have room to drop, which is a possible way to produce such a
sound.  It appears also that there is poor lip seal.  On days when baby
nurses a lot, the pulling in, losing, and pulling in again of the nipple
probably would make the nipple sore.  I wonder about the "cold" also.  Poor
lip seal can create disorganization in bolus formation, creating problems in
the swallowing phase.  And if seal and suction are weak (low tone) this
could extend to  the soft palate, causing it not to lift to seal properly
during the swallowing phase of the suck-swallow-breathe cycle.  There may be
micro-aspiration of milk into the nasal-pharynx.  Accumulations of
secretions would create some breathing problems, causing baby to have to
break suction to do some mouth breathing.  All this can lengthen feeds,
contribute to respiratory problems and some sore nipple issues.  Maybe you
are looking at some transient injury from the suctioning, or a neurological
immaturity which will improve over time.  If the respiratory sx continue, an
evaluation by a speech pathologist might help.  But really, since baby is
gaining, and mom is only experiencing mild sore nipple sx, why get too
concerned?  I'd just point out that yes, there are some noises going on, but
everyone is basically ok. If baby has a swallowing disorder far better that
the liquid be breastmilk than formula.  Think of the irritation to the mucus
membranes if foreign proteins were being inhaled!

 I will share that there are some speech pathologists at Texas Children's
Hospital in Houston who encourage some non-nutritive sucking on pacifiers
(sucking without the need to cope with flow) in order to exersise the soft
palate, which is a muscle.  If a long, round one were used, it might help
the baby grove the tongue a bit better, assisting bolus formation.  I would
tend to use the paci when baby was awake and active, and use it to stimulate
baby's mouth by attempting to play "tug" with it so baby could tone up
orally.  I wouldn't use it to plug up baby, substitute for feeding, or while
falling asleep.
Barbara