Barbara,

Thanks for your reply to my questions re bubble palate in pointing me
back to Wolf and Glass.  I will plan to get back into the book.  I got
bogged down in the anatomy and physiology section, which I know I need,
but didn't have time to study at the time.  I will try for small bits as
you suggest.  I learned a great deal from Wolf and Glass as well as from
Marjorie Palmer at the conferences.  I hope I never have to miss the
annual Albuquerque conference as I always learn so much.

You write that, "The only babies who won't breastfeed, can't
breastfeed."  You appear to discount nipple confusion and flow
preference as reasons for breastfeeding difficulties, although I'm not
sure that was your intent.  Did you mean that these aren't the only
reasons why babies don't breastfeed?  If so, I couldn't agree with you
more.  I have seen babies who won't breastfeed because of a cardiac
defect (no stamina), respiratory distress, reflux, or a stuffy nose.
I'm sure there are plenty of other reasons which I either can't remember
or didn't recognize.

However, I see lots of babies whose only or primary problem with
breastfeeding seems to be that they were bottlefed before breastfeeding
was well established.  These babies refuse to root at the breast, to
open their mouths wide, and/or to suck when the breast is in their
mouths.  If they suck at all, they often come off the breast repeatedly
because of the small volume of the breast milk or colostrum (which has
usually been further decreased by the mother's lack of stimulation when
the baby was being bottlefed in the nursery and the mother had no nipple
stimulation or breast emptying.

With regard to Marjorie Palmer's lecture, I have found the information
very helpful.  However, I am not sure that sucking bursts of 5-9 sucks
are indicative of neurologic damage in the first few days of life in
breastfeeding babies.  I see lots of babies who appear normal in every
way who fit into this category in early feeds.  I think it may have to
do with the low milk volume at this time.  What do you think?

Bonnie Jones, RN, ICCE, IBCLC
from the sunny S.W. USA