Kathy Renhert asks about a child who won't allow anything in his mouth.
This sounds like a sensory defensiveness issue.  There are some infants who
are so hypersensitive to tactile stimulation that they are overwhelmed by
it.  Therefore they avoid it.  It could also be a hyperactive reflex, such
as an over-active gag reflex.  Why the breast would be exempt I don't know,
as I have seen several infants (two in whom the problem persisted through
the 2nd 12 months of life) who refused all oral feeds and had to be fed with
NG tube or G tube.  Another possibility is zinc deficiency -- which tends to
make food taste bad, but this wouldn't explain the lack of willingness to
allow any other form of oral stim.  I'd have the baby eval . by a Speech
Pathologist.  If you wean, what will he eat?  Don't mess with that part of
the picture.
Barbara



Barbara Wilson-Clay, BS, IBCLC
Private Practice, Austin, Texas
Owner, Lactnews On-Line Conference Page
http://moontower.com/bwc/lactnews.html