Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

breastfeeding a newborn with tongue tie - any words of support for me??

26 replies

NotAcow · 26/01/2006 21:28

ds3 is 4 days old and norks feel like theyre gonna fall off. got the jordans, and he tries to feed well but bless 'im, hes not doing v well and can only latch on to nipple, hence blisters and PAIN...
am hopefully having the lactation consultant woman come and 'snip' the tongue soon(tomorrow?? please?), which is apparently no big deal for him at this stage and will make everything better... just wanted to know if any of you out there have had a sim experience and any words of wisdom/advice/support (abuse?)

OP posts:
Pruni · 26/01/2006 21:33

Message withdrawn

Original poster
NotAcow · 26/01/2006 21:51

thanks pruni. yes, i did know that but it still helps to hear from others... you know how it is. think i'd feel really quite alone in all this parenting lark without MN. in fact i did for the first 2 years or so till i found it!

so you had it donr then? and it all went well straight away after??

OP posts:
Pruni · 26/01/2006 22:02

Message withdrawn

Original poster
NotAcow · 26/01/2006 22:19

wow, sorry to hear it was such a crap exp all round4 u.

know what u mean about lack of info... ds1 had same trouble latching on and all i got was same advice about teasing mouth open with nip and holding him right blah blah blah... all that stuff IS important im sure, but nobody ever mentioned that there could possibly be another explanation, other than me just being crap at it. am just so glad my mw this time knows about it, has spotted it, can help with it.

OP posts:
Original poster
NotAcow · 26/01/2006 22:20

WHY isnt it ever mentioned in books????

OP posts:
Pruni · 26/01/2006 22:23

Message withdrawn

Pruni · 26/01/2006 22:24

Message withdrawn

tiktok · 27/01/2006 08:53

Snipping is very, very quick and easy. I have seen a video of it, and I have supported a number of women whose babies have had this done and to whom it has made a real difference.

Anyone who knows about bf should be checking this, if the positioning and attachment seem ok and the mother is still in pain.

NotAcow, all the best to you.

kitegirl · 27/01/2006 09:18

my son was tongue tied and until I called a bf councellor in when he was 2 weeks old I, like you Pruni, just thought I was doing something wrong as it hurt like hell (cracked and bleeding nipples... wouldn't wish that even to my MIL). I was told then that there is only one NHS paediatrician in England who snips them, in Southampton, so we had it done privately in Cromwell Hospital in London, and I cannot tell you what a difference it made. Immediately after the snip I put ds on my breast and - no pain. Hang in there, definitely worth getting it done, for me it meant that I was able to continue to bf.

sweetheart · 27/01/2006 09:22

Hi,

Just wanted to add my experience for support.

My ds is 7 weeks old and he was born with a tounge tie. He was nearly 4 weeks old before we got the appointment to have his tounge snipped so I was expressing and bottle feeding him.

The actual snip was really minor - took 2 seconds and ds hardly even cried. I gave him a bottle straight away and he was fine. Then I got help with a bf'ing councellor at the hospital to get him back on the breast as he had been on bottles for so long.

It was tough for a couple of days but eventually ds started to latch on properly and now bfing is goin well.

I have resorted to expressing and bottles again but only becuase he wasn't getting into a routine with the bfing but I do still give him 1/2 feeds a day for comfort.

I hope you get your appt soon - ours took ages due to hospital politics that i won't bore you with but I found the system to be utterly shocking! Good luck.

sweetheart · 27/01/2006 09:23

I went to So'ton for the snip to be done btw.

littlemonster · 27/01/2006 09:52

I had given up breastfeeding before anyone mentioned ds had a tongue-tie. Feel really naive now but I'd never heard of it. I found feeding agonising even though I kept being told he was latched on correctly. DS cried almost constantly until I started bottle feeding. Awful. At the time I felt quite supported because my midwives were all so kind when I was finding it difficult but in retrospect I can't believe no-one mentioned the tongue tie to me until it was too late. It may still have been hard but at least I would have known there was a reason and I wasn't just crap! Expressing didn't work for me...I was severly anaemic and very weak so think I really need the constant action of a baby feeding to stimulate sufficient supply. Next time things will be SO different!

So...I've got no advice and probably just needed to rant myself but I hope all goes well with the lactation consultant and you do get the snip. Would be really interested to know why its not available on the NHS. Posters saying 'Breast is Best' is not enough!!

sweetheart · 27/01/2006 10:14

lm, it is available on the nhs. That is how we got ds done.

littlemonster · 27/01/2006 10:31

thats good to know sw (although hope it won't happen again!) tbh only ever read about tongue tie on mumsnet and unfortunately not til much too late for me...have always got the impression nhs docs won't do it which always seems really odd if its only a small snip and helps some people so much.

Oops better go..ds bashed hmself..bad mummy!

Original poster
NotAcow · 27/01/2006 15:58

hi all -

thanks for your input. it seems mad but id never heard of it either and did think i was just not v good at bf'ing the first time round. am so glad someone saw fit to mention this could be a prob this time!!

well, we had him 'snipped' today, and i dont think he even noticed much so thats good! cant say things are perfect just yet, as am so engorged now, he couldnt latch on properly if his tongue was a foot long, bless him! but am expressing a bit as we speak (as i type!) to soften them up a bit, and then we'll see.

it does seem mad that this isnt more widely known about, doesnt it??

oh, and my snip was in so'ton too, at Hythe birthing unit, BTW

OP posts:
Pruni · 27/01/2006 16:02

Message withdrawn

Original poster
NotAcow · 27/01/2006 16:02

and LM, its not nec every baby you have who has it... my ds2 fed perfectly from about 10 minutes after he was born. it was ds's 1 and 3 i have had trouble with, and i can only guess it was tongue tie with ds1, as he seems to have normal use of his tongue now (hes 2.5yrs now)

hope you dont have it next time, but at least you'll know to get it checked right away eh?

OP posts:
Pruni · 27/01/2006 16:03

Message withdrawn

Original poster
NotAcow · 27/01/2006 16:04

thanks Pruni, good for you. perhaps we should start an awareness campaign ourselves!!

OP posts:
Original poster
NotAcow · 27/01/2006 16:07

have just expressed 100mls. GOD that feels good!!

OP posts:
Pruni · 28/01/2006 20:13

Message withdrawn

Original poster
NotAcow · 28/01/2006 22:57

Hi Pruni

yeah, not bad today. improving slightly since the snip, which he didnt even cry over, so much less traumatic than i feared.

actually its improved a lot, its just not totally painless yet, coz he now doesnt know how to latch on properly, but he is getting better, the engorgement is going down (think he is emptying them better) and the blisters are even on their way off... he is going longer between feeds i think, coz hes getting more when he does feed... cant believe no-one thought to look for this the first time (grrrr.)

never mind eh? alls well that ends well.

OP posts:
Pruni · 29/01/2006 07:01

Message withdrawn

Original poster
NotAcow · 30/01/2006 12:05

??? er, havnt seen the threads to which you refer... are you a hardcore loon?

thank you so much for your support BTW. youve been a shining light

OP posts:
Pruni · 30/01/2006 19:48

Message withdrawn