tongue tie - anyone with exp of bf a baby with this condition?

[lyra41]

Hi there

my ds is 4 days old and has quite a pronounced tongue tie. the doc noticed when he had his check, as did the mw, and i have noticed the effect on my nipples. they're very sore and bleeding, he struggles to latch on properley, and i think we're often feeding without a proper latch, but v difficult to do much else.

the nct bf counsellor has recommended getting his frenulum (?) clipped, but says it's an old skill and i may find it difficult to find a doctor who's willing to do it. she says this almost always resloves the situation, and is fairly painless for the baby. anyone had experience of this?

all helpful advice v much appreciated.

I know people who've had the frenulum cut, but you need to get it done soon, so he doesn't get used to feeding wrong, iyswim.

There is someone near London who does this. I'd talk to your GP asap.

(tongue tie doesn't always cause problems feeding, but if it is, it's worth getting fixed. It can cause speech issues, later, too.)

Hi Lyra,

I have no experience myself but I just want to suggest that you CAT sweetheart, she had her baby last month and was tonuge tied and I know she had the snip done. She really is lovely and I'm sure she will help with whatever you need. Just tell her that I suggested you CAT her.

i work as a midwife and one of our breat feeding 'experts' recommends a place near southampton for the tongue tie cut. wherabouts in the country are you, she may know of a centre near you.

do an archive search on here - our DS was TTed, but the GP maintained it would grow out and it did, but his TT
wasn't as pronounced as yours sounds - I found lots of threads that went into detail about TTs and frenectomies.

My godson had his cut after problems feeding... it was sore for about 24hrs, but fine after that, and his feeding was sooo much better.

Oh, it was done in Southampton.

DS2 had a tongue tie as well. I would recommend getting it done as soon as possible to prevent bad feeding habits and to stop you getting so sore. It's easy to recover from and not that painfull for your DS either. It's a very common defect so I can't imagine why the counceller said it's an old skill?

Hi Lyra

I really feel for you. My DS2 had tongue tie. We had dreadful problmes BF and after repeated bouts of mastitis we stopped becuase I couldn't cope with it any more.

I know a lot of health professionals dont agree with getting the frenulum cut, and believe it stretches as the baby gets older etc, but if you think it is going to be a problem do look in to getting it cut. I think you will have to have it done privately though.

When I was researching it I fond a really good dr at Southampton Hospital (can't remember name but google it and he should come up - if you have trouble let me know and I'll dig out the paperwork from teh bottom of the drawer!). The hospital is NHS but he does it privately. No doubt you will also find someone in harley Street too.

Good luck. Let us know how you get on.

PS I DO believe that some babies CAN bf with tonigue tie, but I'm sure it really depends on the extent to which it is 'tied'. My DS has just had his cut btw at 18 months. He had surgery for something eles so I asked them to do it at the same time. Brought a lump to my throat when he stuck his tongue out at me the next day!

I remeber being shocked at the length of DS2 tongue! It was very cute though.

Lyra, it could well stretch in the future but if it causing a problem now for you then the best solution is to get it cut IMO.

Mears gave me this link for places when they will carry out the op. DS had it, although not diagnosed untill he was no longer BF. Not had it yet, am sitting on him to see how his speech develops. Do remember how incredibly painful it was though, you have my upmost sympathy. Well done for percervering. It will get better. Promise!

my twins (5 wks) both have tongue ties.
it was noticed by the mw who helps with breast feeding. unfortunatly they also have MCADD a genetic disorder which means they have to keep their blood sugar up as they cant break down the fat stores in their body propely.
they had to go back in hosp before we knew what the probelm was as one was lapsing in a coma due to sleeping thru night. It was the hardest descision i ever made but i changed to bottles and since then they have both fed much better and had no further probs.
the MW did tell me that it was not affecting their feeding style and that with help i could have continued but 2 hours to feed them when they have they be fed every 3 was getting a bit much (under statement of the century, i hadnt eaten proply for days and couldnt remember what a bed was)

They are quite badly affected, but i also think that the heart shape their tongue makes when they try to stick it out is cute

They are quite badly affected, but i also think that the heart shape their tongue makes when they try to stick it out is cute

thanks so much for all the posts, v v helpful.

we live in manchester, and the surgeons listed on mears' link (thank you mears) all appear to be v far from manchester.

i think i'm going to leave it till he's a week old and reassess then. my nipples feel a bit better today, although still bleeding and sore, but the pain is less than before.

also i'm getting ds weighed tomorrow, and if he's not lost much, then i'll conclude that he's managing to get enough milk despite the tongue tie. i think he probably is getting enough, as he sleeps well, but feeds do take a long time.

Apparently how bad a tongue tie is, and how much it affects BF aren't necessarily closely related. A baby can be quite badly tongue tied, and BF with no problem, while another baby, with a tongue tie that appears really mild, can have real problems with it.

My DS2 has a pretty severe tongue tie, although I think it's got better. We've had no problems BF, so haven't had it snipped. I will see what happens with speech.

The tougue tie on a baby will losen as the baby gets older, It may not completly dissapear. One thing that bf councilors recomend is that you help your bub to stregthen and develop his suck by expressing your milk and using a hayberman feeder (also used for bf babies with cleft palates) It is a wierd looking contraption wich alows the baby to feed in a similar way to the breast.