Tongue tie and wind in young baby - any experiences?

[fluffyanimal]

My ds2 is nearly a month old and has a tongue tie - not severe. He is breastfeeding well and gaining weight well, so the doctors were reluctant to snip the tongue tie and we decided to leave it. But he really suffers with wind and I'm wondering if the tongue tie could be causing it. He does gulp, sometimes cough or choke and often releases the latch when feeding. As the day goes on he gets more and more windy until in the evenings he is quite miserable (and so is the rest of the family!).

Does anyone have experience of tongue tie and it being connected with wind?

[EccentricaGallumbits]

not experience but it would make sense if he's coughing and choking during feeding he's probably swallowing loads or air too.

[Oblomov]

Ds2 had very very bad wind. Thought to be reflux at one point. He was awke for hours and hours at night for the first three months.It was a nightmare.
His tongue tie was not spotted at birth and has to be snipped twice quite early on because he was struggling to bf.
I can not comment on the medical connection of tongue tie and wind, because I do not know. But if you think about it, it does make sense. Tongue tie often makes bf'ing more tricky. Gulping of wind, thus. Makes sense, doesn't it.

I know not everyone wants it snipped, but are you sure you don't ?
What are you bf'ing advisor / HV etc actually saying then/ advising ?
And where are you ? Are you close to either Kings or southampton or any of the places that they are very pro snipping or have very knowledgeable tongue tie specialists?
Lots of MN experts can help you find those specialists if you want.
HTH.

[fluffyanimal]

Thanks both. Oblomov, we are near York, I don't know whether they are more or less for or against snipping, but they weren't strongly encouraging it given that he is feeding well and gaining weight well. But they were perfectly prepared to do it if we had wanted it. I wimped out at the time but am now having second thoughts. At what age was your ds's snipped? I'm afraid of waiting too long and needing some form of anaesthetic. Both docs and nurses at the hospital were implying the tongue tie would resolve of its own accord, maybe by self-rupture when chewing toys, but I'm also worrying about him finding at an older age that he can't lick an ice lolly or get food out of his teeth etc.

[busyma]

Our 4 month old has a tongue tie......apparantly! but when we took him to have it cut they said it wasn't that bad and that his tongue would grow and the tie would stretch with it. However.....he did have a 4-5 week bout of unbearable screaming which I'm sure was wind related. It passed without treatment could it be related or just coincidence? nobody knows. He wouldn't latch to my breast and messed around on teats for a good few weeks from birth. He also has never taken a dummy very well either! Anyway just food for thought. Babies boggle yer mind x

[posieparker]

My first two were tongue tied and both were operated on at around 10 months. IME the tongue does not stretch enough and a lifetime of not licking an icecream or mispronouncing words was enough for me to have them snipped, under a GA. Unless the tongue tie is very bad and my ds2 had a forked tongue if it came out as far as his teeth, but still okay to bf.

[llareggub]

My DS2 has tongue-tie but feeds well, has gained weight well and after posting lots of mumsnet, advice from the tongue-tie midwife at Dudley and a SALT, I decided against having it snipped.

I'm pretty sure that over the last few months it has got better. He is able to poke out his tongue and it doesn't look forked.

However he did have pretty bad wind, looking back. Who knows if it is connected? He is 5 months now and I have no concerns about his tongue. In fact I suspect his brother had one too, and his speech is excellent.

[posieparker]

Neither of mine had bad wind, btw.

Perhaps my boys did have bad tongue tie then? As their tongues did not come out as far as their teeth, well not further anyway. The 'tie' was only just behind the end of their tongue.... I assumed they were not that bad.

[busyma]

Then again I don't know of a baby that hasn't had wind problems at some point during the first few months so I guess you can't necessarily link the two.

[EachPeachPearMum]

My DS had tongue-tie - it was snipped at about 5 weeks, and since then no pain with bf. He did have very foamy windy stools, but I put this down to cows milk- intolerance, and once I was dairy-free it eased. As busyma says- the first few weeks are so hectic, and babies are so random it would be hard to say there was a link really.

DH's tongue-tie wasn't snipped, and he cannot pronounce his 'r's (awkward when your first language is French!), nor stick his tongue out without it hurting.