13wo latch slipping / coming off all the time, getting v sore, not sure what to do next..

[smk84]

Hi, my DS is 13wo and is ebf. He had posterior tongue tie released at around 4 weeks to see if it would help his weight gain as he had been slow to gain, but by the time it was released he had started gaining well and continued to do so. To me the tt release didn't make any difference. It has not grown back as far as I can see, but the infant feeding midwife says there is a slight resistance under the tongue so has referred us to the max facial department, but an appointment could take a few weeks. I am not convinced it is a tt problem, and can't see why it would be to do with the letdown (it became a problem about 2 weeks ago).
It has not been every feed until today, where literally every feed I have had him slipping off or latch disappearing to almost nothing, and had to rel-'atch him numerous times. I am getting really sore as he often slips suddenly. He doesn't seem unwell, and has no obvious signs of thrush (neither do I) or teething (apart from hands in mouth/dribbling, but no red gums).
Feeding is an absolute nightmare and I am dreading each one, we are both getting really upset :(. So far i've tried feeding in different positions but it doesn't seem to make much difference. I have also tried skin to skin on several occasions, and biological nurturing, but that doesn;t seem to help overall. I've spoken to (and had feeds observed by but he typically didn't do it in front of them!) the feeding advisor, health visitor and community nursery nurse and no one can suggest how to solve this except to wait for the TT apppointment. I can't wait that long because it's too big a problem, so i'm considering:
-expressing and feeding in bottles but i'm wary of this due to the problems it can cause.

• using nipple shields, but not sure that's the right thing to do
• giving calpol to see if it helps as he might be in some pain (but he seems fine the rest of the time when not feeding)

-taking painkillers myself ! I am going to take him to the doc on Monday to get everything else checked. So I am just wondering if you have any ideas for what to do... The way it is I can't carry on, and I am worried that feeding is becoming a negative experience for DS :( Thank you for reading.

Slipping off is a classic tongue tie symptom.

Have you looked at the facebook tongue tie support group?

Hi mawbroon yes it's me again....have joined the group... Just don,t know how to deal with this until the appointment comes through and am seriously hoping that it is to do with tongue tie and there's something that can be done. Thank you for your post.

Hi smk. Sorry to read things still aren't going so well for you with regards BF. We're doing okay, I think, but have centile dropping 'issues' that are being monitored. I'm still bemoaning the lack of real life support.

In your shoes, I would express to maintain supply and bottle feed until your appointment or things improve by themselves (practising the larch once your nipples are better). I am aware that some babies have problems with bottle/ nipple but I fed DD1 with EBM for first 5 weeks, then several bottles per day (EBM) for months after that. She was never confused.

It may not be the right thing for you, but just wanted to share my experience.

Hi belinda thanks for your post, glad you are doing ok, we have. Been on. Centime dropping I hope we can both have it plain sailing soon. We have been up loads in night think it might be growth spurt which combined with the pulling and slipping off makes it super hard. If things were as they normally were I would have been able to predict when ds would feed to pump before a feed but he has been screaming the place down every 2hours when he norm almost sleeps through so pumping doesn't seem poss right now anyway !

Are you able to go to Huddersfield to have it lasered? You will have read on the fb group that you need to be working with someone who can do bodywork before and after the release and also with somebody who can help you sort the breastfeeding (IBCLC), preferably one who understands about tongue tie.

We are going there on Thursday to get ds1's done again. I didn't know much about it when he had it released in January and it turns out that only the anterior tie was released, he still has a posterior tie and lip tie

Now I really think about it, smk, I don't think I would be able to keep up with pumping in your situation either. I forgot you had another child. Really hope you find a solution.

mawbroon we live in devon :( thank you for the idea though :)

It's a bit of a trek for us too. All day in the car and a 400mile round trip.

I hope it goes well for you mawbroon. I have been trying to take a pic of under his tongue but its really difficult to keep him still enough so it's not blurry !

Oh and I took him to the doc and as I suspected he is fine ! Doc suggested expressing and giving in bottle but now tried that yet cos worries that once we do it will be the beginning of the end of bf.

Thanks smk. I'm sure it will be fine. ds1 is very brave when it comes to this sort of stuff

Have you tried nipple shields? They are useful with a tt baby as they can be easier to latch on to. You would need to express afterwards to maintain supply though because you just can't get as much milk out using a shield.

I know what you mean about the photos. It's really hard to get a good one. Is this for the fb group? Could you take a face on video when he is crying? It's easier to see tongue movement from a video clip and gives them a better idea of what's going on. Or, you could try for a still pic when he is asleep. You need to put your fingers on either side of the frenulum so that they can get a proper look.