To Lori Peters: regarding tongue-sucking baby.
As a hospital based LC I find many babies suck their tongues. They've
probably been doing it for weeks for comfort as there aren't many things to
suck on in their nice little womb home. Some babies are "profound"
tongue-suckers. That's what sounds like the case in your listing.
Some things I've noticed about these babies is that they need to be
positioned very comfortably because they really go for the tongue (for
comfort) if they're not comfortable themselves. The other things include some
finger sucking before latching so the baby realizes they CAN suck something
besides the tongue and often an upside down latch helps the nipple get up to
the palate quickly. If , when baby opens his mouth widely with his tongue
down, you get the breast in the mouth, on the tongue and touching the palate
all at the same time - you will get a latch. With almost constant massage and
compression you often get a sustained feeding. The reward of food is the
kicker because that is the one thing sucking on the tongue will NOT give the
baby.
Even so, with all that going for the baby you will notice that as he tires he
will flip that tongue back up and begin sucking on it. It takes several days
of almost constant vigilance of the mother and her helpers before the baby
really gives up his friend, "the tongue".  I know some people will use a
nipple shield with this problem , but I usually don't because I don't like to
use a shield unless the mother has boocoodles of milk and usually
tongue-suckers have outgrown this habit by the time there's a ton of milk
available.  But you are certainly right. Tongue-suckers are a challenge. Good
Luck.
Cheryl Muller RNC, IBCLC

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