Any advice on improving 5mo's latch after tongue tie division (Organiccarrotcake?!)?

[Sophiesworld]

We finally got DD's tongue tie diagnosed and snipped yesterday after a bit of a battle and some great support from mumsnetters :)

There was no immediate dramatic difference to her latching and feeding but I hope that over the next couple of weeks we will start to see an improvement. Obviously she has been compensating for quite a while now (fortunately it's not been painful) so she has probably gotten into bad habits.

Just wondering if anyone has experience of tongue tie division in a baby older than a few weeks? OCC - I read on another thread that your 8mo had a TT division and had to 'relearn' how to latch.

Any advice on how long it might take and/or how to help things along would be much appreciated!

Sophiesworld - I had to teach DD1 to stick her tongue out as she latched with her tongue back (not TT though). I did this by just sticking my tongue out at her repeatedly just before latching on - only latching on when she had copied though.

It didn't take long and she was about 10w old (IIRC - she's nearly 6y now!) and it did help a lot.

Have you been given any exercises or massaging of the tongue/snipped part to do?

You can try putting your (clean ) finger in her mouth and gently moving her tongue forward with it - so press down and move forward with the length of your finger to bring the tongue over her lower gum/teeth. Hope that makes sense!

I don't know how long it might be before you see any improvement but I'd imagine if you try as much as possible to have a 'correct' latch at each feed she will soon pick up that there is more milk to be had that way.

Hope it all comes together soon.

Thanks TruthSweet - will give both those ideas a try. at you being a 'lowly peer supporter' btw!

We were given some tongue exercises to do, including offering DD a finger to suck as often as possible and touching the sides of her gums to encourage her to lateralise.

Sorry to keep asking questions, but we were recommended to get some cranial osteopathy sessions as a follow up to release any residual tension. Do you have any advice on whether this is helpful. I have considered it before but been a bit sceptical. May have to start a new thread on that one...!

Also, I was wondering whether it would be helpful to try nipple shields? I have read that they can help baby to latch on but I'm not sure what the pros and cons are.

I have heard good things about cranial osteopathy & releasing tension in TT babies but I've not done it myself.

I did do chiropractic care with DD1 (she was ventouse delivered and had a slightly twisted neck/body) - that went really well until they told me they could 'cure' her 'asthma' (she had her first wheezing attack at 15m - can't diagnose asthma until 2y at the very earliest). We stopped going then!

Perhaps go in with a slightly sceptical mind and hopefully they will be normal and not try to cure anything

As to nipple shields - If your DD will latch without and it's not got to the point of you not being able to bf any more due to pain I'd personally not use them. Once you start using them the risks/drawbacks are:-

a) you then have to wean baby off the shields which can take time,

b) there is a risk of lowered milk supply due to no direct contact with the breast (this can cause lowered hormone response to the breastfeeding,

c) one of the ways you make anti-bodies in BM is by microbes (viruses/bacteria) in baby's saliva on the nipple triggers production of anti-bodies to specifically attack those microbes, if there is no nipple/mouth contact then the body can't make those specific anti-bodies.

If you are at the verge of stopping then use them but if you aren't at that point, I can't see the benefits (not sure of what they might be either!) outweighing the drawbacks.

Thank you so much for the information - I had no idea about all the downsides to using nipple shields. She is latching ok so I will just keep working on that.

That's good news Sophie and you know that if you get to the point of not bfing any more then there is always shields to turn to while you get extra help. They just aren't to be used 'just in case' IYSWIM