I was very interested in Chris Mulford's recent post about the arching,
breast refusing baby who took so long to get established with nursing.  The
mother is so lucky she had Chris's warmth and support to cont. as I am
firmly convinced that it makes a tremendous difference down the road.
Babies who don't feed normally are babies who are struggling with something.
It may not be apparent, and it may be transient, but then again, it may be
the first sx of something not quite right with baby's neurological function.
I have become extremely interested in long-term follow-up, which is, I
think, the most fascinating perk of being in priv. pract.  I get to see some
of my clients through the weaning process, and get to follow them with
subsequent babies, which allows me a way to keep tracking some of the babies
I have worked with who have demonstrated unusual feeding behaviors.

I have posted before about a baby I saw 3 yrs. ago who arched and pushed
away, whose hyper-extended posturing was so extreme it created jaw tension
which chewed up mom's nipples.  I have photos of this baby.  Mom
perservered, came to believe that had she not nursed she would have had
dysfunctional bonding with her son due to his lack of cuddliness.  She is
5-6 mo preg. with baby#2, and gradually weaning the boy I saw as a baby.  I
have contacted her approx. once a year to follow-up on this boy's progress.
He has been basically ok -- tho is a "live wire".  She came into the office
last week for something. I asked her how the boy was doing, whether he was
well, etc.  She told me that several months ago he had a seizure at bedtime.
He was not febrile, nor ill, and it occurred out of the blue, leaving him
partially paralyzed for about a day.  A very upsetting event.  He recovered
completely, has not had any more seizure activity, but is being watched.

I would like to suggest to all the priv. pract. LCs and to the pediatrician
and FP docs on line to consider doing some prospective data gathering.
Infants with marked feeding dysfunction -- esp. that which can't be readily
ascribed to something apparent (like prematurity) should be tracked with an
eye toward observing for progression to other neurological disorders.
Marking their charts and creating a rolodex with ph. ## and month to be
contacted in on a yearly basis.  I'd be esp. interested to see how school
performance looks for these kids. I bet they have some learning problems.

These kids are precisely the babies we should be working hard with to
prevent untimely weaning due to the contribution of human milk to beneficial
brain development.
Barbara

Barbara Wilson-Clay, BS, IBCLC
Private Practice, Austin, Texas
Owner, Lactnews On-Line Conference Page
http://moontower.com/bwc/lactnews.html