Does this sound like tongue tie to you?

[Janoschi]

I'm wondering if I could have some opinions on the following...

I'm currently breastfeeding my 4 week old daughter and something just doesn't feel right. She has hiccoughs at least 2 or 3 times a day and is often in pain from trapped wind. She screams after every feed and it can take an hour to settle her. She hardly ever feeds for longer than 5 minutes and is incredibly noisy at the breast - gulping, loud sucking, loud swallowing. Often seems to gag whilst feeding. Often pulls off mid suck. Her tongue sometimes feels as though it's vibrating. When she feeds, her hands often fly up to her face and she claws at my breast and her eyes. It's difficult to settle her down to sleep. My nipples don't hurt but they're usually wedge-shaped after feeding.

I've tried to examine her tongue and it does seem to have a tongue tie, but I'm not sure. She's been weighed twice since birth and is following the 50th centile so she's obviously managing to get enough milk. I'm seeing the HV on Wednesday but was hoping to get some feedback from MN.

So what do you think?

It sounds like she may have a tongue tie, but that may or may not be the root cause of your problems.

Have you had any BFC or similar look at your latch? The wedge-shaped nipples indicate that something is up there, whether caused by positioning etc or by a tie ...

I think that you need to have it checked by a lactation expert, who will be able to tell you what it is, if it isn't a tonguetie (although it does sound like it probably is).

Depending on which area you are in, you may or may not be able to get it snipped easily - some places do it without fuss, some have complete ishoos with doing it and some insist you get it done privately at a cost of ~£100.

Sounds like a TT to me - get it checked asap. It took me 5 months of very painful bfing before my DD's was diagnosed! If her tongue seems heart shaped even if you can't see a tie, she may have a posterior TT which is much harder to spot and diagnose. You might be able to feel it if you pop a (clean) finger under her tongue. I'm not an expert btw just did a lot of reading when my DD was being diagnosed. Good luck!

janoschi these were all the symptoms my DS2 had when BF and now most of the stuff you described even with FF. Also, do you feel a slicing feeling when they're BF?

I'm still waiting for an appointment to get my DS2 checked, he's 4months old now and we've still not been seen because like your DD, he's gaining weight well. Midwifes, BF counsellors and GP who have seen him says no tongue tie but how is it that he's got all the symptoms for TT. The only additional thing with DS2 is that he also PV a lot, leading to our initial diagnosis of reflux. But he loves lying flat and only cries during feeding so that kinda rules out proper reflux. Does your DD sick a lot after feeds due to bad feeding?

In a way, I'm hoping it's something simple like a TT rather than something more serious(are you hoping the same?).

Hope you get it checked and sorted soon.

Does this ring any bells? There is a 'Symptoms' lists part way down the article that may be of help.

I definitely second getting baby and latch checked by a IBCLC or try to get a referral back to the hospital's Infant Feeding Coordinator. How ever checks baby for TT ask them how much training they have had in spotting TT, if they haven't had extensive training or aren't confident then ask for baby to be checked by someone who is. I could spot an obvious TT but I couldn't spot a sub-mucousal TT if it bit me on the bum .

Anonmum2 - yes, I'm hoping for tongue tie too because it seems the simplest of all the possibilities!

I've discovered that my daughter seems to feed best from a full breast. Once it becomes soft she can't seem to get a latch anymore and just screams with frustration. Guessing it's why she only feeds for 5 mins...?

Yes, she often throws up a little milk after feeding. Occasionally she throws up a lot, but that's rare.

Wednesday appointment was cancelled so now I'm waiting for Friday to see what the HV says.

Definitely sounds like tongue tie. May also be coupled with oversupply as well esp given your daughter is gaining well despite a (maybe) tongue tie.

Yes it could be tongue tie. As someone said, make sure a posterior tie is checked for. You might not have supply issues now, but once she gets to 8-12 weeks and if she is still not feeding effectively it may drop then, so best to get it sorted asap.