Many thanks to all for the suggestions following my query about
tongue suckers.  All suggestions are in my typical repertoire, but it
was nice to see my approaches validated by others.  I tend to be a
big one for using finger sucking (probably a lot more than I ideally
should), and agree that it can be a quick and easy way of getting
across to a baby that nice things happen when something is in the
mouth and they suck properly.  We frequently use a little squirt of
D10W along with the suck training--boy, does that get babies
interested fast!  Interestingly, the tongue sucker that prompted my
post had a very 'hyper'-cupped tongue, and I was very reluctant to
slide my finger in there for fear it would just play into the
pronounced cupping.  I often wish I had big fat fingers for just this
reason (and usually hunt up the father if extended suck training will
be needed--since they tend to have wider fingers).  As Jan pointed
out, the thumb is a good next progression from a finger, but it is
rather awkward!

After nobody else concurred with my sense that tongue sucking
happened more frequently in black babies, I was ready to admit to
some daftness.  When I ran it past my staff today, tho, they all
agreed!  Go figure!

Again, thanks for the helpful tips.

Terry Hadley