If the baby can't fill the oral cavity (with teat -- perhaps because nipple/areolar tissue is non-elastic) the baby will attempt to fill the space with the posterior (back section) of the tongue. At least this is what the OT/Speech Path. lit suggests. Small infants with thin cheeks (scant fat pads hence larger oral cavity) paired with mom with flattish, tight, "inexperienced" nipples may be a combination that explains why baby is humping up or curling tongue in the rear of the mouth. Also, infants tend to trigger the gag reflex a bit closer to the midsection of the tongue compared to far back on the tongue and at the pharyngeal wall (as with older babies). Maybe these tongue curlers have slightly overactive gag reflexes and use their tongues to prevent triggering. Anyway, these are just a few thoughts. I support the idea of some systematic assessments of infants for feeding (related to looking at feeding reflexes, oral/facial anatomical features, tone and state, along with taking history of the birth experience. Once we begin to look more closely, we can begin to document associations that I bet we're currently missing. Barbara Wilson-Clay BSEd, IBCLC Austin Lactation Associates http://www.lactnews.com *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html