Does baby need to "re-learn" to breastfeed after tongue tie snip?

[fretfree]

Hi there,

My one week old has a tongue tie, which is not currently affecting breast feeding (I have been very lucky in that he has taken to this really well), but I am totally convinced of the need to get it dealt with asap to avoid future problems (speech, bottles, kissing etc).

The hospital where I gave birth had a bizarre policy that tongue tie would be under a general anaesthetic - even for a newborn!!! In their defence, this was set by the surgeon and the midwives there, as well as the paediatrician I spoke to, were actually quite shocked. I have an appointment with our local doctor on Monday for a referral to another hospital to get it done.

My question, however, is for those of you who have had a tongue tie snipped and were successful at breastfeeding beforehand, did it alter the way that your baby was feeding - did he have to re-learn the skills?

Thanks :)

Not necessarily relearn the skills, but yes, to a certain extent they may be surprised by their new tongue and need to adapt what they were doing to allow for its new mobility. Has the hospital given you a set of exercises to do with your baby to strengthen the tongue? If not, let me know and I'll track down a few you can do.

It does seem strange they did it under GA, as most TT divisions I've come across have been done without any anaesthetic (under 6 months, I hasten to add) and an instant BF after the snip seemed to be all the babies needed to get over it.

Sometimes they do. I always say to my ladies, give yourselves a couple of days to get used to it. This allows mum to be a bit more relaxed about it. Some of my ladies find that they and the baby take to it instantly. There is no one right answer. If you find that your baby needs to relearn, then pretend it's right back at the beginning.

Thank you so much for your posts Mombojombo and MarsLady. I'll get a better idea of timings as to when we can get it done at his appointment tomorrow. I checked the NICE guidelines and they talk about no GA under 10 months. It is not needed.

He was feeding incessantly (ok - that's how it felt!) yesterday evening and does seem to swallow a lot of air at the same time. He's only a week old, so I didn't think he would be onto cluster feeding yet. I'm hoping that his feeding will become more efficient once the cut has been made.

I've never heard of tongue strengthening exercises - if you can find some Mombojombo that would be fantastic.

You might find you are fine as he's so little. Mine definitely had to re-learn but he was 16 weeks when it was snipped and old habits died hard! It wasn't a major faff though, and it was fab once we got going properly. Good luck.

Hi my 8 month old was tongue tied and I had terrible trouble for the 1st 2 weeks, she kept pulling off and I was in so much pain I nearly gave up until it was spotted by a midwife and I managed to get a fast referral to the specialist midwife at the local hospital, she cut the tie straight away with no anasthetic, my daughter cried very briefly and then the midwife got me to bf her immediately and it was amazing, she fed so well, so relaxed and so painfree, I was so relieved and cried with joy. She didn't really take long to be feeding as if it was the most natural thing in the world and once my nipples had healed which didn't take more than a few days, it was great. I am still feeding her before bed. Hope this helps.

Hi there - just had the snip done. He's managed to feed well since, so hopefully all ok :)

Oh that's wonderful news. I just logged on to see how you went. Long may it continue.