In a message dated 96-12-28 17:18:37 EST, Barbara notes,

<< Just wanted to share something I accidently discovered in the Bible the
 other day.  Lamentations, 4, verse 4:  "The tongue of the suckling cleaves
 to the roof of its mouth in thirst; The babes cry for food, but there is no
 one to give it to them."

 We often observe the tongue up on the palate in infants not feeding well.
 It is often noted as well, that after delivery of calories, the oral-motor
 activity seems to improve, and what looked like a "suck problem"  (ie weird
 tongue activity) seems magically resolved. We may have attributed this to
 the result of finger feeding, suck training, or improved energy. This
 passage got me wondering:   Are we simply looking at an artifact of thirst?
  >>

I suppose it would depend on if the mouth is dry as a result of thirst.  A
baby's mouth is not only dry, it seems a bit sticky if there is some
dehydration.  I think your observation is interesting -- I think the
oral-motor activity improves because the baby learns to organize better --
more glucose to the brain, more thinking ability.  Gene Cranston Anderson
noticed that newborns who are left to cry are more disorganized and it takes
them awhile to latch on and suckle effectively.  Is this a result of
depletion of glucose stores which decreases organizational abilities --
especially for those babies that are still trying to figure it out, or is
this because there's some dehydration/dry mouth/sticky tongue????

Good thoughts.  I'm sure someone will have a wonderfully cogent answer....

Jan Barger
Wheaton, IL -- where we still sang Christmas carols in church this morning.
 I'm SO glad....I'm not done with Christmas until the 12th day is over...