Tongue tie.....

[sissy89]

Hello,

This isn't an aibu at all really but anyway.....

Just had my 3rd baby for 4 weeks ago and he's suffering with silent reflux so took him to the doctor's this morning and he was prescribed with infant gaviscon.

I went on fb to ask for peoples reviews on it as I've heard it can cause constipation and it's not the best.

Anyway this one girl who I used to work with years and years ago commented and said he has reflux because he has a tongue tie and I need to attend this local baby breast feeding group to get it diagnosed.....wtf.

Now I know he doesn't have a tongue tie because my daughter did and it was a nightmare. So when ds was born, I got him checked over for a tongue tie more than once by midwives, paediatricians etc etc who all said he doesn't have one. Plus he's feeds fine - he's breast fed and no problems latching on.

Anyway I thanked her for her comment but said I'd already had him checked for a tongue tie and he's fine.

She then replied that actually no doctors or midwives are medically trained to diagnosis a tongue tie (again wtf.....) and I need to take my baby to this group to get his tongue tie diagnosed.

She's then sent me several private messages with links to pages for me to read to back up her theory.

And then messaged me again to ask why I haven't responded to her and that my baby needs help ASAP.

1 - anyone heard this theory to be true? And why the hell cant a midwife or doctor tell if a baby has a tongue tie?

2 - it bloody pisses me off to be told what to do when looking after my kids. I've received loads more helpful comments. I really appreciate people giving advice and ideas but being told how to look after my baby is a step too far for me. So I've blocked her.

Midwives aren't great at diagnosing tongue ties, you need someone with specific training, I forget what they're called, but that'll be what she's referring to. If he's feeding fine I can't see that there's any reason to suspect tongue tie, I've never heard of it being linked with reflux and can't see how it would be, although I'm not very well read in that area.

I hope you manage to get little ones reflux sorted soon

A tongue tie is pretty obvious and my babies was diagnosed the day he was born by the junior doctor. He was assessed properly by the specialists who confirmed it and he had it snipped. I love the internet experts that give you top tips. Sounds like you have already had the checks done anyway so I would ignore her. As for gaviscon I found it dreadful. My DS did have reflux and gaviscon made it worse and the constipation didn’t help. He responded well to ranitidine... our wonder drug

My DS had a posterior tongue tie which apparently is more difficult to detect. He was checked over by numerous midwives and doctors and I was told everything was fine despite the fact that he drew blood the first time I fed him and already had a DD who'd I breast fed no problem whatsoever. According to them it was all to do with the position I was holding him in.
I took him to a chiropractor in a bid to find a remedy to sort him out as he just cried constantly and rarely slept. The chiropractor diagnosed tongue tie straight away. I took him to a private midwife who snipped it and the improvement was dramatic. When I asked the private midwife how so many people could have checked him over and not detected it (including one midwife who commented 'that's interesting he can't take a bottle, it's flowing down his face'), she said tongue tie training amounts to half a page in a text book.
I'm not sure how true what the midwife told me was, but I have been told that tongue tie is becoming more common so if health professionals aren't getting proper training in it they really should as it can have such a massive impact on a family.

Thanks both for the replies....

@ledzepplintooasiseclectic yes someone else mentioned ranitidine. It was blooming amazing for me during pregnancy so I can guess it would be good for babies too. I'm going to give the gaviscon a few days then go back if it doesn't work or causes constipation. Thank you

She's a nutjob with a bee in her bonnet. Just smile and nod and ignore her.

She is right that reflux could be caused by tongue tie and that many doctors and midwives miss tongue tie (especially if it’s not obvious) because they are not all properly trained on it. They should be but they’re not.

She is wrong to be so belligerent and basically harrass you about it. I would have sent you one link to some info (including a list of the symptoms some of which are not always obviously tongue tie) and encouraged you to go to a breastfeeding group for a proper tt assessment, and then left it at that.

Your decision and if you’re completely sure that it’s not tongue tie then great.

Btw reflux can be caused by CMPA so that’s something to consider. Allergy UK has some useful info about CMPA on their website if you want to check it out.

Spam88- umm, midwives ARE trained to diagnose tongue tie. Unsure where you’re getting your information from.
OP, you know your baby best- the baby has been checked by midwives and doctors, and as you quite rightly point out, you know the signs and symptoms to look out for. This woman sounds nuts- honestly if you’re not friends and don’t keep in touch outside Facebook I would ignore and block her. Sounds like she’s trying to get you to go to this breastfeeding group for some bizarre reason. Wonder what her agenda is?

My DS had a bad posterior tongue tie that was missed by countless doctors, midwives and HVs. We had 3 days in a paeds ward at 3 weeks for bronchiolitis, there were some comments from medical staff about how often he fed, but they all still missed his tt. It only became a bit more apparent when his skull grew at 9 weeks, stretching it out, and a lactation consultant diagnosed it. There was a world of difference when we got it snipped.

So this woman may be right or wrong but she doesn't need to be a dick about it.

DS was tongue tied - the MW and doctor at the hospital where he was born spotted it immediately. They wouldn't snip it though, clearly not medically fashionable then. Problems with bf then ensued, and tens of different types of bottles later, he was feeding well.

At the grand old age of 14, he's just had it snipped, but has to go back for more to be done. Had he have had this done as a new born, speech issues and bf issues wouldn't have happened. I didn't have mine done til I was 16 and it was hideous (albeit that was thirty years ago).

As a PP said, MWs can of course spot this, and I would ignore this woman. GP or HV of any use? Hope the reflux is sorted soon, it must be horrible for you.

Oh and just to add. Plenty of midwives and HVs completely missed my son’s tongue tie. It was diagnosed by a breastfeeding counsellor and confirmed by a tt practitioner.

Just because it didn’t happen to you/your child doesn’t mean it can’t happen.

Thanks all. I don't doubt that she may be correct in what she's telling me. Its just the way she comes across.

In all honesty, she's breastfeeding obsessed. Her fb is full of pictures of her breastfeeding her toddler. Which is fine, each to their own. I personally wouldn't share pictures of me feeding my babies but that's me. At the end of the day we are just doing what we need too which is feeding our children. Doesn't matter wether it's breast or bottle but this particular lady is very very public with her views.....

Anyway I don't doubt that she may be correct in what she's saying but it's just the way she's come at me with it.

He feeds absolutely fine, he's putting on weight as he should - health visitor was really pleased with his feeding and weight gain. I'm not sore. He doesn't stop and start when I'm feeding him. All the classic signs aren't there

DD was tongue tied - posterior, checked by at least 5 midwifes, 2 health visitors, 2 gps and the drs in the hospital on the ward, we had an ent referral and was checked by 2 ent consultants both of whom advised that posterior tongue tie doesn’t exist eventually diagnosed by a breastfeeding consultant and snipped privately- even if the nhs had diagnosed they don’t snip here. So they can be missed by numerous health professionals. The difference in feeding was immense.

Drs and midwives missed my two's tongue ties, and they had to be diagnosed by specialist infant feeding midwives. I think she's right to suggest but not to insist - bloody rude! In my dd's case her tongue tie was linked with reflux.

My dds tongue tie didn't get diagnosed for 3 weeks. It was awful. She was so hungry but couldn't feed as she couldn't latch on. She wasn't gaining enough weight. I was so so sore I was close to giving up.

All midwives missed it so I do understand that they can. She had it shipped eventually.

But I've not had any of this with my son. He came out like a feeding machine and knew what he was doing straight away lol. Every doctor and midwife I'be seen since I've asked to check him over and they have all said no tongue tie.

Agree with pp that posterior tongue tie is easily missed.
Dd’s was missed 4 times whilst still in hospital and by an eclectic mix of midwives, infant feeding team and neonatal doctors, despite the fact that I told them repeatedly that it ran in my family.
Fast forward 3 years and DS born at same hospital. This time, the latch was even worse so I started asking - and asking- and asking. Again, m/w, neonatal staff and infant feeding team all felt there was no issue, despite my experience the previous time.
3 weeks later, I finally got a posterior tt diagnosed at 80% and then cut.

And I was also told by the specialists that unless they do extra training, it is NOT part of standard training for either midwives or doctors, which is crazy, given the push to get mums to breastfeed🤷‍♀️

Don't agree with the way your colleague has approached this and reflux might or might not occur because of tongue tie but she is correct regarding everyone not being able to diagnose it. In our case:

• HV said DS has tongue tie
• Consultant said (over the phone) he does not have a tongue tie because one of the midwives or nurses would have spotted it. DS was extremely premature and spent months in hospital

• GP said he doesn't have a tongue tie

• Community nurses visiting us weekly said he doesn't have a tongue tie

• Found a lactation consultant and tongue tie specialist who identified that he had several posterior tongue tie. It was a drop in session and she didn't charge anything

• Took him to a major NHS hospital that also did private procedures. The surgeon who led the department took one look and said he has major tongue tie. He snipped it in a couple of seconds.

DS was around 4 months corrected. Because all the professionals disagreed about whether he had a tongue tie or not we lost 6 weeks and the opportunity to breastfeed. It did improve the reflux issues a bit but did not resolve it completely.

Sorry for the long post but it might be worthwhile to get it checked by a lactation consultant/tongue tie specialist.

All the best for the reflux issues, they can be horrible. I hope your DC feels better

Severe not several :)

Reflux can be linked to tt - I think it might be the extra air that they swallow? - but can obviously have loads of other causes. Ranitidine and omeprazole were our friends - gaviscon was a waste of time for us.

So in terms of the aibu, I think your friend was absolutely right to raise it but wrong not to just leave it as something for you to then consider.

There are different types and degrees of tongue tie. I asked 2 midwives and they assured me mine didn't have one...they did but a posterior one which is harder to spot. We had feeding issues though (just constant feeding as wasn't getting enough each time and was tiring them out. Leading to constant night waking etc).

Midwives just have a quick look in the mouth to check and look at their tongue. The tongue tie practitioner has a whole different set of qualifications and does a 7 point check - only one of these is by looking in the mouth, the other 6 are by the movement of the tongue eg will put their gloved finger in the mouth and assess how they suck, and rub various bits of their gums so baby tries to move tongue there and assess how far it can go out etc. So it is very different and this is why doctors and midwives can miss it as it is a specialist area outside their area of expertise.

Anyway if you're happy with how he is feeding and gaining weight then I don't know why she suggested tongue tie (unless there is a link with reflux that I don't know about?). She sounds a bit militant that she is hounding you about it! I can see why some people get like that - if you've had tongue tie missed by a doctor or midwives yourself and had resultant issues then you do want other people to be aware this can happen. But there is trying to help then interfering!

Tongue tie or not he's feeding fine, your happy so theres no issues! Its the really overbearing intense way shes gone about it best to block her!

My son had reflux (& tongue tie but not related in any way reflux remained after tongue tie corrected ) gaviscon was decent, did harden stools which occasionally worsened reflux. Comfort milk made a huge difference, then ranitadine eventually made things much much better for him. Try the gaviscon, for many that is enough x

Oh and I had no pain and weight gain for baby was great - only other tongue tie symptom was excessive wind from gulping loads of air due to shallow latch. It really isn't always obvious