Excessive spillage/dribbling during bottle feeding

[hanflan]

I am bottle feeding my three week old, but I am finding the spillage and dribbling very hard to cope with. It drenches a bib and a muslin, and soaks the neck of her clothes too so I am constantly changing her. It's especially hard when trying to feed her out and about! The other issue is that it makes it impossible to know how much milk she is getting when so much ends up down her front. We have spent a fortune trying different bottles and teats but no such luck. It seems that her tongue keeps pushing out above her bottom lip which breaks the seal and causes the dribbling, no idea how to stop this though! Anyone had experience with this? Did it get better with age? It's driving me mad!

[hanflan]

We have also had her checked for tongue tie by several consultants and midwives, definitely not an issue!

[Monikita]

Does she make a clicking/tutting sound when she's on the bottle?

It's normal for a baby to have their tongue above their bottom lip - that's their instinct and necessary when breastfeeding.

You say she was checked for tongue tie - how did they check for it? Did they do it like this?

www.drghaheri.com/blog/2014/2/15/how-to-examine-a-baby-for-tongue-tie-or-lip-tie

I ask because DD2 had exactly the same symptoms on the bottle (I was pumping because bf was painful and she couldn't transfer milk effectively) while we were waiting for an appointment to correct her tie. Since successful revision she is completely dry when on the bottle! I learned from DD1 that no HCP where i live knew how to look for a tongue tie. I diagnosed DD2 myself and got it confirmed by those who specialise in ties.

Congrats on your little girl by the way!

[hanflan]

Monikita- I am not sure exactly how they did it but they said it was something to do with the fact that her tongue sticks really far out past her bottom lip when she pokes her tongue out, and also touches the roof of the mouth when she cries.

Moresnow- it's constantly throughout the whole feed, no better or worse at any point!

[hanflan]

Does anyone know of anyone they would recommend in London or Surrey who specialises in tongue ties? I would quite like to get it ruled out by a specialist to be honest.

[Monikita]

The fact that she can touch the roof of her mouth with her tongue when she cries does suggest that she has good mobility. It helps to assess her suck as well though (just by letting her suck on a finger).
We went to Katherine Fisher in Croydon (IBCLC) privately or you can go to her and Mr Shailesh Patel's NHS tt clinic at King's College Hospital.
Mr Graham Smith (ENT surgeon) Kingston also has a private tt clinic.

[hanflan]

Moresnow- mam are the ones we are using, she definitely feeds the best from them but tons of spillage still!
Monikita- thanks so much for the recommendations, I will look into getting an appointment :)

[Monikita]

Good luck hanflan these babies love to worry us!

[Fraggle31]

Depending where in surrey/London you are, we had my DSs tongue tie assessed and snipped at 6 weeks old by these lovely ladies www.feedingfirst.co.uk/aboutus.html