Regarding the baby with the short, heart shaped tongue who can't get on the breast: First of all, a tongue that appears short and heart shaped but does not have a short or tight freulum describes pseudoankloglosia, and may be because the tongue is very hypotonic (low muscle tone). What is the rest of the baby's muscle tone like? Does his mouth hang open or can he form a good seal with his lips? What is the cheek tone like? Can he/she suck vigorously on your finger if it is placed far enough back on his tongue? If so, a nipple shield may work. It is certainly worth a try. Don't forget to do Jack Newman's breast compressions while the baby is on to facilitate let down and MER. While I totally admire, have always agreed with, and respect what Barbara Wilson-Clay posts, here I must very respectfully disagree with the suggestion to tip the head back to protrude the tongue. While you are all sitting here at the computer, take a minute to sit up very straight. Now tip your head back so that you are almost looking at the ceiling. What does your tongue do? Mine drops back into the bottom of my mouth, and my jaw drops down. Now sit up straight again and jut your lower jaw forward. The tongue follows the jaw forward. This is the position to try for to get the short tongue more forward. It's really tough to do with a hungry newborn. Stroking the tongue in a forward motion before trying to feed can also help. The tongue has muscular fibers that go all which ways- which is why we can do so many movements with it. The newborn cannot do all these movement with their tongues, but it can go forward and back. Stroking from back to forward can help. The dancers hand position can also help. Good Luck, Debbie Rabin, OTR, CLC Los Angeles, CA