sitting here feeding and crying!!!!

[slinkstah]

The midwife noticed my 5 day old baby was not latching on properly which would explain the bleeding nips and mastitis!
midwife said baby has tongue tie which is preventing him putting his tongue forward therefore stopping him latching on properley. she said go to the gp for a referral to the peads. she then said i must feed often for the mastitis and also try to express some.

i went to the gp and she agrreed baby has got tongue tie but said that unless baby is not putting on weight then it doesn't matter. i told her about him not latching on properley and causing masitis and sore nips and she said i should be careful about passing mastitis infection to my baby so if it gets too painful GIVE FORMULA!!!

who is right? who do i beleive? i really want to breastfeed but do not want my baby to get an infection.
he is not emptying my breasts properly and not getting enough milk with each feed therefore feeding for half hour then having 5 minute sleep and then feeding again!
has anyone got any advice?

[Piffle]

passing mastitis to the baby?
Not heard that one before and I had mastitis about 8 x with ds
Could you contact a breastfeeding specialist to help with the latch via NCT or La Leche league maybe?

[Nemo1977]

never heard about passing mastitis on to baby. Could you try him at the breast let him take as much as he can and then express off to let him take the rest from a bottle? Am sure someone a bit more knowledgable with the BF will be along soon.

[CarlyP]

i had mastitis and regulary expressed. go for that option if it suits you and get an electric pump, much quicker.

cx

[Caligula]

Never heard of passing mastitis on to the baby, I had it and I don't think I was advised not to feed. I wouldn't trust anything most medical professionals say about breastfeeding though.

Why don't you get on to the NCT breastfeeding helpline? They're going to talk far more knowledgably than your average GP or midwife. Here's a link for you:

nct link

[teabags]

Yes, call a nct breastfeeding counsellor
0870 444 8708 (10am-8pm)



they are brilliant and really helped me when I was in tears over bf
Good luck

[teabags]

sorry, I meant 8am - 10pm

[northender]

My friend struggled a bit due to tongue tied babe. Expressing sounds like a good idea at the moment. The BfN (Breastfeeding Network) supporterline would be useful for advice, website

[shhhh]

can you not use breats shield type thingys to help with the sore nips..? I used them with dd and they were a god send. May help till they heal.

[tiktok]

shhh, you mean nipple shields and sorry, they may not be helpful here.

Slink, you need proper help and a different GP. Your midwife may be able to support you here, and will certainly clarify the rubbish a out mastitis and about formula being the only option.

You need far more help than you can get on a tak board. You need to see someone - a call to one of the helplines will be useful, but they cannot help diagnose a tongue tie that needs treating. Please contact the midwife asap.

[moondog]

Please listen to Tiktok Slink.
Get back to your m/w.
Also,Association for Breastfeeding Mothers have a helpline manned by volunteers.
0870 401 7711

I feel for you,love.

[slinkstah]

thanks everyone for the fantastic links i am going to contact someone for furthur advise.
can't beleive my dr told me i would infect baby when it looks like thats rubbish! why would she say that.
looks like i will have to find a peaditritian who can do the tongue tie procedure privatly. As i can't wait months for the referral etc and continue BF.

[moondog]

Apparently in olden days(!)MWs would keep one fingernail long to deal with this on the spot and save faffing with doctor.

I have read articles relating personal experiences with this in the ABM magazine.
Have a look at their site online and search archives.

You may have to be quite forceful.

Best of luck.

[Caligula]

And when you've recovered from all this and have the time and energy, write to your doctor informing her that she gave you wrong advice and could she kindly update her files so that she can give correct advice to other mothers in future.



If they don't bloody know, why don't they look it up or ask someone who does, instead of just saying the first thing that comes into their head?

[moondog]

Silly bitch.

[UniSarah]

Tongue tie - round here ( Devon) you have to go to Bristol ( southmead) or Southampton ( consultant is Mr Griffiths or so i'm told) for a snip and get it done while they are still very young (under 12 wk). Try NCT experience register to find someone in your area whos gone through it with their nipper.

[racheeeee]

My little boy was found to be tongue tied by a Lactation Counsellor in New York while we were there visiting families, we saw a doctor who performed the Frenotomy (which is the snip to cut the membrane) and we were told that it is genetic (my dad, the grandfather came with us to the doctors visit and he has the same tongue tie as my boy has.) Anyway, he had the quick procedure done and was right as rain within around 2 hours. This doctor in NY told me that Mr Griffiths was the best in the UK and was highly recommended. He is THE expert in the UK on tongue tie.

You might want to give him a call and find out more, it could solve your problems.

[UniSarah]

just found the link i was looking for.
www.babyfriendly.org.uk/tonguetie.asp
includes a list of hospitals etc that will snip and other info.

[moondog]

OOh that will be useful Uni.
It is so draining looking for that sort of info immediately post birth and getting to grips with b/feeding.
You star!

[Pruni]

Message withdrawn

[tiktok]

Good thinking about getting someone else to do the phoning round, Pruni.

Tongue tie doesn't always cause bf problems - in fact, there are degrees of tongue tie, and there are other factors involved, too.

I have helped babies with apparent tongue tie latch on better.

But where good, sensible and knowledgeable re-positioning help does not cure the soreness, then a snip (and it is easy) may help (not always instantly, BTW).

The midwife might be ok about informing this doctor that mastitis in a mother really does not normally pass to the baby - sometimes the baby has the same bug in his nose, and it's thought in these cases the baby has passed it to the mother. However, while the doctor is clearly inadequate, and unable to support breastfeeding, she is not making up the whole thing about mastitis transmission - here's a paper showing a study though there is no need to worry that this would be harmful in a healthy term baby.

[tiktok]

Correction - these mothers did not have clinical signs of mastitis.

[tiktok]

Correction and clarification - I was looking for a case study of where infection in the mother's breasts had affected the baby. That wasn't it! There are studies showing that bacterial infection can be passed from mother to baby via the breastmilk but at apparently sub-clinical levels in healthy mothers and babies....ie no one knows either of them have these infections until they're tested for them!
It's maybe this sort of thing that has confused the doctor.

[vkone]

In Reading we have to go to Southampton for tongue-tie, it's absurd that you can't get this treated locally, esp. as it takes all of 10 mins to treat

[VVVQV]

If baby is not thriving due to difficulties feeding, and its a result of tongue tie, surely that makes it a very urgent referral?

Or am i living in La La land with that assumption?

[NotQuiteCockney]

I think the baby is gaining well.

Both my boys had tongue tie, DS2's was quite severe, at least, the GP, MW etc all noticed it. But he fed fine, and I had no nipple issues, so we have ignored it, and he is fine.

But there are certainly babies for whom a tongue tie is a real problem.