11 month old tongue tie

[StarStruK]

My daughter is nearly 11 months old and breastfeeding has always been a struggle. Initially, feeding was incredibly painful and there were days she couldn’t latch at all and I would have to express and then syringe feed her. Eventually (!!) a tongue tie was diagnosed at 3 months old, the nhs waiting list was 13 weeks so we paid to have it cut privately. I’m not sure feeding ever really got better, but she was prescribed ranitidine around the same time and she became much calmer generally. Fast forward to now and she seems to be finding it harder and harder to feed, I managed to get a referral to an infant feeding specialist who has said she has a tongue tie. Because my daughter is putting on weight (because she feeds for a minute or two every other hour, night included!), it would be up to us wether or not we want to get it cut. Because of her age I’m under the understanding a general anaesthetic might be used? It was horrible to watch the tie being cut first time and I imagine it would be pretty traumatic now without any anaesthetic? She doesn’t really eat any solid food, just very smooth purées on a spoon and won’t take a bottle.
Would you have the tie cut? Or perceiver and hope the tongue tie doesn’t have any implications? I don’t know what to do.

[FTMF30]

So you mean you had her tongue tie cut previously at 3 months and she has one again???
In any case I would just get it cut. My LO had his cut at 4 months. The place I went to didn't use anaesthetic as the snip itself just took a second. He let out an almighty scream but I put him to breastfeed right away. He was his usual happy self on the drive home. I personally think it's better to take preventative measures than a wait and see approach. He could end up with a speech impedement and the older he gets, the more painful it will be to get it cut later down the line.

[StarStruK]

Yes, so either it wasn't cut properly or it has reattached. I was under the impression that the older the baby is, the procedure becomes a bit more tricky or can be more traumatic and so general anaesthetic is used (which makes sense to me really, she had to be held down at 4 months old which was just horrible to watch. She would put up much more of a fight now).

[HotInWinter]

I would get it redivided, and go with the specialists opinion on anesthetic or not.
It can cause issues with speech too.
Both mine had ties divided. DS1 was a little older, but still a newborn. He had massive issues feeding. DS2 I asked at birth, and got referred the same day. His feeding was never bad, but oh boy, did he start piling on the weight once it was cut!

[Gunpowder]

Have you considered asking your GP for a speech and language referral? They are experts in swallowing, tongue movement etc and will be able to do a thorough assessment as to what’s going on inside her mouth and help her and you move forward.

I did this when DS was 9 months old (he had/has tongue tie, reflux and also had airway surgery at 4 months) The S&L therapist was super helpful and at 13 months he eats everything with very little gagging. It’s been great seeing her as he was also very slow to babble (think it’s all connected). Apparently babies with severe reflux often struggle with texture so it may not just be the TT that’s affecting her eating.

Good luck!

[Mendingfences]

One of mine had a tt divided under general just short of her second birthday. Full success and no complications

[StarStruK]

Speech and language is a good idea, do you know if a health visitor can refer or does it have to be gp? My doctors have been pretty rubbish, I went recently when feeding was particularly difficult and I questioned tongue tie, but was told they don't reattach and they didn't even look in her mouth...

[Gunpowder]

HV can definitely refer older children to community S&L - not sure about this age though. I’d definitely explain and ask for their help.

What a pain your GP is unhelpful and dismissive. I think I got DS’s referral by getting my GP to re-refer him to his ENT and then asked for them to refer us to a SALT. I stressed that he was not eating any solid food and frequently choked/gagged and this was enough to trigger the referral.

Our trust has informal speech and language drop ins (although more for preschoolers who aren’t talking much) so that would have been my next port of call if the GP hadn’t helped. Don’t know if they have them everywhere/it’s worth investigating.

[nocoolnamesleft]

If you're anywhere up north, Mrs Lawson at the RVI in Newcastle is a surgeon with a bit of a passion for sorting out tongue ties, if needed, at any age. But would definitely also tell you if it didn't need doing.