My newborn's tongue...

[EliseDickerson]

Hi! I'm a new Mom...my son was born 14 days ago and spent his first 12 days of life in the NICU with respitory distress syndrome. He was early; I was c-sectioned at 36 weeks (due to preeclampsia), but he was a 'healthy' 7 pounds.
For all that's happened in his short life, he's able to breastfeed well, EXCEPT his tongue gets in the way and I can't seem to move it! He roots, he sucks well...but after a few sucks, his tongue seems to distract him and he loses interest.
I've tried a "nipple guard" so that it acts like a bottle nipple, but it hasn't helped...PLEASE HELP! I don't want to have to resort to bottling my breastmilk for my son...

[mirellevvi]

Hi , I would recommend seeing a lactation consultant in your area who can asses if your baby is not tongue tied. If that is the case there are ways to resolve it quickly. Another reason could be that although your baby was a healthy 7lb, he is still a preemie and often late preemies who are healthy might still have some developmental problems that can be resolved if noticed. So it is also possible that your baby might be having some problems with coordinating the breath, suck and swallow and might need some help with that. Again, speak to a lactation consultant so that she can evaluate that. Here is a link to an short page that could give you some more ideas about what could be happening to you: http://www.amotherinisrael.com/2009/07/17/breastfeeding-late-preterm-babies/