Pain after tongue tie clipping

[BabCNesbitt]

My DD (4 weeks old tomorrow) had her tongue tie clipped on Monday afternoon. Prior to that, she'd been gaining weight well, but BFing had been horribly painful for me - misshapen nipples after each feed blistering, cracking, white stripes across each nipple, and the feeling that she was 'chomping' on the breast.

After it was clipped, it seemed to be less painful, but over the last couple of days it's as bad as ever, with all of the above problems again. It doesn't feel like her tongue is coming over her lower gum at all, although I can see that it's able to when she sticks her tongue out of her mouth. I've been trying really carefully to make sure she's latching on properly, but it doesn't seem to make any difference. (She also seems to have problems with gas, as she often shrieks blue bloody murder and claws at the breast before and after feedings and sometimes curls her body away during a feed.)

I'm going to go to the local BF cafe again on Tuesday, but is there something obvious I'm missing? I don't want to stop BF, but I'm feeling pretty hopeless as I've been shown so many times already how to latch and position correctly, and yet even after her having to go through all that, it's still hurting so much :(

My Ds had his tt clipped 2 weeks ago tomorrow and today is the first day of painfree feeding. Have you tried the bio nurturing position? It has helped me but i still have to 'help' him get a big mouthful by shaping my nipple just before he latches. Also having cranial osteopathy.
The past two weeks have been the hardest yet, i think because i had great expectations for the tt snip. I posted on here and was advised not to give up hope :-)

My DD had her tongue tie clipped at 5 days and it took about 2 weeks or so to get on track. I suggest trying to persevere. You are both learning a new skill and it can take considerable time and effort to get it right. The good thing is you both have many opportunities to practice.

Can you pump once or twice a day to give you both a break? That worked for me. Also, I obsessively watched the Jack Newman breastfeeding videos to keep educating myself on the latch thing and how to spot she's feeding properly. Lots of pillows around you to make sure baby and your arms are well supported in the beginning. And try to relax and breathe. I know it's stressful but you can get there. And this challenging time will soon pass.

Oh and you know how to unlatch properly? Stick your finger in the corner of her mouth to break the suction before you pull her away. How I wish someone told me that in the beginning. :)

Good luck.

How are you getting on now Babc? I forgot to add that your nipples Will need to heal. If you look up jack Newman he has good advice on healing sore nips:)

How are you getting on now Babc? I forgot to add that your nipples Will need to heal. If you look up jack Newman he has good advice on healing sore nips:)

Thanks for the replies. :) We've had a couple of less painful feeds after I bought some Lansinoh (I'm vegan, so I didn't want to, but I was desperate!), but mostly I still feel like I'm being chewed up - the full teeth-gritting, wall-kicking stuff. She wants to feed every moment she's awake at the moment (and if she can't, she's screaming her head off), so I'm not getting much chance to heal. But it's reassuring to hear you both say that it does get better. And the Jack Newman videos are great - I'd never before heard that the pauses were the times she's actually drinking, and I'd been to the NCT BF class! I thought at first that she kept just falling asleep on me! How is that sort of stuff not taught?

Erac: I've heard about proper unlatching, but DD has such chubby cheeks that it's really tough to get into the corner of her mouth at all! :)