Permission to forward from Dee Kassing whose computer has Lactnet trouble.
(general feeding problems info and perhaps some insight toward Jaye’s question)
   _____  

Hi, All.
   Many of you know that I have had several car accidents, including a nasty one in 2004 that still causes me to deal with physical problems.  This morning I woke up with a partially locked jaw!  (Never had this happen before.)
   While I have intellectually understood for some time now that a stiff neck or a crooked jaw can make it difficult for a baby's tongue to move properly for sucking, it was still just "book knowledge".  I often wished babies could talk and explain more about their problems.  
   My jaw would only partially open when I woke up.  I could only put very small pieces of my breakfast waffles with peanut butter in my mouth.  Then, when I tried to chew, I realized how much farther my mouth must open (even if the lips are closed) to chew than to allow the food into the mouth in the first place.  I yelped with pain as I tried to chew and ended up kind of mushing the food against my palate with my tongue, in order to swallow.  However, I also noticed that my tongue sat a bit oddly in my mouth, even with my mouth closed.  And I talked with a slight lisp that I never had before.  Several times as I slowly worked my way through my breakfast (I am not one to skip a meal!), my tongue did not control the food quite right and I had several panicky moments when I almost choked a couple of times as the food did not go down right because the tongue wasn't moving correctly.
    The craniosacral therapist and my current chiropractor and my previous chiropractor (a long drive away) all work on Saturday mornings, but NONE of them were in their offices this morning!  I knew there was no way I could deal with this until Monday, so it occured to me to call one of the pediatric chiropractors that I refer mothers to.  We had never met, though planned to "have lunch sometime" to meet, and this was not the way I intended to meet her.  But I called, and she was in her office, and I begged her to see me in an emergency and fortunately she had an unusual opening in her schedule and got me in.  I am much better than I was this morning, though I can still feel things aren't right and I might wake up Sunday morning with the same problem.
   But after I could open my mouth better, and was able to eat my dinner without trouble, I realized that this is what babies with stiff necks or crooked jaws or tongue ties must deal with.  I thought about my panic when my tongue didn't control the food well for swallowing and thought about babies whose tongues aren't working properly trying to deal with the gush of milk during a letdown.  No wonder these babies get squirmy at breast and/or clamp down with their jaws or tongue thrust.  It's really an awful feeling when you can't control the food well.  And I was awfully tired this afternoon from the stress of it all.
   Anyway, I just wanted to share with you all that I now have a much clearer perception of what babies with feeding problems are feeling when they try to breastfeed.  And I'll be able to explain it to their mothers better, too!
   Dee






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