Hi. I am working with a mom and baby about 48 hours old. This baby makes classic swallowing sounds (the "kha, kha" type), but I found out today that he does this even when sucking a finger. Mom was very happy yesterday because I told her that sound is baby swallowing. Because of breastfeeding problems since then, I did a finger assessment since baby keeps coming off the breast. With every suck he made a swallowing sound. I have only been working with 1-2 day old babies for 6 months now but I have worked with many babies who have moms with a full milk supply and I am very familiar with that swallowing sound (of course my own babies too!). This baby's "swallows" sound exactly like that of a baby drinking from a full breast (not the almost inaudible swallows we sometimes hear in the first day or two)--and they are with every suck--but of course on the finger there is nothing for him to swallow. What else could be responsible for this? Is he swallowing air? Just a little history. Baby was distressed during labor. Mom mentioned he didn't do well during contractions. Born vaginally, but taken directly to nursery and put on monitors for maybe 12 hours. Abdomen distended. Doctors concerned about sepsis so antibiotics were started. As of yesterday baby was taken to mom's room for first feeding and did well we thought other than not staying attached to breast for more than 30 secs to a minute. During the night the glucose went to 25 so IV glucose solution was started and baby was finger fed formula. As of this morning, mom started breastfeeding again. Ped said baby is doing fine health-wise. I assisted with feeding and baby still comes off of the breast. Not fussy, just pulls off and will calmly go back on again when helped. Mom said he does arch a little while at the breast. Mom on her back and baby lying across her seems to work best--he stays on a little longer. He detaches easily from the breast so I don't think his seal is great. I am just wondering if this very audible swallowing sound (especially with finger) is a sign of something--especially since he is having some breastfeeding difficulty and a history of other problems. He seems content at the breast and with finger--he doesn't seem like he can't breathe or anything. According to nurses, his reflexes seem to be normal. Although, they have noticed some possible "posturing", but not sure if it really is at this point. Sorry this is so long, but it is hard to explain in writing. Thanks again, Christine Lichte LLL leader, CBE, IBCLC 2003 candidate *********************************************** 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(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html