If a baby is retracting his tongue and biting with the gums, the areola could become bruised or puffy. The compression on the nipple could cause vasospasm or blanching. You know what I'm going to say here - check for tongue tie, short jaw, and shallow latch. Sometimes sucking only becomes painful as the baby develops more effective compensations for reduced tongue mobility. Catherine Watson Genna, IBCLC NYC *********************************************** 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(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html