Slight tongue tie: tips for bf success please

[LaTristesse]

This is for a friend who's just has a CS and has a newborn with a slight tongue tie. I have fed 2 successfully so she's asked me for help but I have no experience of tongue tie. As far as I understand it it won't get snipped as its not severe enough, but what can I suggest to her to ease her feeding discomfort? Thanks in advance!

DS had a minor tonguetie - I had the choice of getting it snipped or not, by the paed to whom he was referred. He did say it might make no difference but I had it done anyway and it made a MASSIVE difference (was over in seconds, he didn't even whimper, fed straight away - no problems)

So - the level of tonguetie doesn't necessarily correlate with whether or not it will get snipped - nor does it necessarily correlate with how much difference snipping it will make (Paed also told me that major TTs had been snipped and made little to no difference)

But - if she can get it snipped, I would recommend it.

What thumbwitch said, exactly :)

Best to get it done pronto and before the baby learns bad habits using his/ her tied tongue.

Get it snipped! My son had posterior tie- hospital missed it altogether! Two gps told me to give a bottle but after much persistence got it snipped. The difference was night and day and as others said, baby doesn't feel it and no blood before three months. Can't recommend it enough. Not worth the pain of trying to bf if it's causing any prob no matter how minor. Good luck to your friend.

Thanks ladies. I know they don't snip at our hospital you have to get referred to a London one so I'll advise her to set the ball rolling with that. In the meantime is there anything which will make the next few days / weeks easier for her?I'm going to see her to tonight so would be great to be able to give her some suggestions...

Get a referral for it to be divided. You can always cancel it if weight gain is fine, and Mum is feeding painlessly when it comes through.

It took us going out of the NHS (Thank-you NCT) for our tongue tie to be diagnosed. Then the consultant thought it so unusual, they asked if a college could look. So, insignificant to a midwife doesn't always mean insignificant.

Good luck with her bf journey

Umm, I don't think there is much she can do, except perhaps to wear nipple shields? it hurt like a bastard to feed DS before the snip - like razor blades being sucked through my nipples - but I knew I was getting to see the paed pretty quickly (within 3weeks of birth, the TT was diagnosed on day 1) so held out for that.

Or, failing that, she could try expressing - but if it takes a long while to get the referral and she bottle feeds him expressed BM all that time, he may never go back to BFing.

Ok, crossed posts there. We had to travel as well.

Lansinoh

Try different holds - tho the CS might hinger that. Rugby hold rather than cross can help - or switching if painful.

Lansinoh

if baby is slow gaining weight, feed, feed, feed and feed

Lansinoh

And a controversial one, if baby is shredding Mum, nipple shields can help for some, but aren't a great long term solution.

But it might not cause any issues - start feeding and see what happens.

Qualified bf supporter is best help. There are loads of helplines try the breast feeding network, la leche legue or other. If she keeps feeding very regularly to keep up her supply and experiments with different positions till she finds something manageable she will hopefully get better support from someone on phone. Really hope she gets there it can be so disheartening to struggle. Again I recommend calling a help line

Agree, get it snipped. Even if there isn't pain, as if they aren't feeding very efficiently still, there can be supply issues after a few months.

My daughter's tongue tie was missed by all the NHS staff, it was posterior and not even visible (could only be palpated) but these are often the most serious in terms of impact on feeding.

So minor doesn't always mean what they think it does. Plus it can cause speech issues later.

She could perhaps try an exaggerated latch while she's waiting on a referral?

Redkites, what's an exaggerated latch?

She seems to be doing really well I spite of being sore, but then everyone's sore to start with anyway... The mw's gave told her if thd baby's feeding on they won't refer but I told her if it's making her sore she should push for a referral. Will emphasize the point about it possibly leading to supply issues later.

It may look like baby is feeding OK, but also keep an eye on weight gain / loss. My boys had really slow weight gain til after the tt was cut, and then they put it on at a more average rate. They looked like they were latched on properly, and fed for hours....

It can also be called an asymmetric latch or the flipple. Unfortunately the description I used to link to has disappeared, but there's a discussion and some links here: forums.llli.org/showthread.php?64512-Flipple-Technique

That's really interesting RedKites, thank you so much! And thanks to everyone who's replied!

My DD also has minor Tongue-tie, bf hurt like hell for just over a week but is totally fine now.

If she's sore, then she really should push for a referral - ignoring her pain as long as the baby is gaining weight is very unreasonable of her mw's! (though unfortunately not uncommon - happened to me too!)

If she thinks she's heading for a dead end on that front, and is financially able she could consider getting a private consultation from someone HERE as it's quite possible it could be done more quickly, and at home, which is infinitely more reassuring than waiting in a hospital queue!

Two things I remember make a difference: -

1. if she's feeding for longer than she should be (DS would take 2h per feed before snip, this went down to about 45m afterwards, which, iirc, is about right)
2. if there is a "clicking" noise from the baby - this is the loss of suction because of the TT stopping the tongue from creating continuous suction and better feeding. These are good indicators that a TT snip would be of benefit, from what my MW said (also a BF'ing consultant).

I could also only feed DS lying down - he couldn't latch in any other position to start with.