<<since the pressure she put on his jaw just upset him, and made him clamp his
mouth down even tighter.>>
Am I  naive in thinking that *everyone knows* that trying to pry open a baby's
mouth open will result in a tonic bite reflex (hence the tight clamp Kristina
describes)?  Could one of our OT/PT lactnet members please respond to the
physiology of why and how this happens?  We could use some education to take
back to the moms and nurses.
I am constantly trying to get mothers and nurses to KEEP THEIR HANDS OFF the
baby's face.  Many mothers think if the baby won't open his mouth, then they
need to pry it open.  Some get the baby latched on beautifully then play with
the face and the baby comes off because mom has stimulated the rooting reflex.
I have someone teaching moms to pump the jaw up and down to get baby to nurse.
(We do this to pump formula into bottle fed babies who won't suck--NOT
breastfed infants)
When babies do a lot of nipple clamping or have a tight mouth, GENTLE downward
pressure on the chin is PROPERLY APPLIED AFTER the latch.  I instruct mom to
find the notch between the chin and the lower lip and push back and down.  I
have never even seen a slight red mark from the way I instruct them to do it,
much less any bruising on the baby.  I also tell them that they will only have
to do this until the baby recovers from birth and/or the milk is fully in.
Milk flow makes the jaw relax.
Thanks
Marie Davis RN, IBCLC