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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

Posterior tongue - experiences please!

16 replies

flopsybunny45 · 21/12/2013 22:00

Our little girl had a 75% anterior tongue tie, snipped at 4 days old. Since then - she is nearly 4 months - we have had a rough ride. During the day she has been chirpy except when feeding - it is a battle with her pushing me away and arching her back screaming, each night she gets incredibly windy (farty) and we get at most 4 broken hours sleep a night, with her screaming/straining much of the night. Our gp (rightly) suggested we go back to hospital for another tie app, the bf midwife said only 25% left and not a problem! This week - she is now 4 months - we have had a private Lc revise what she thinks was a significant posterior tie. I am close to giving up bf I am so tired but really don't want to at this point so l'm hoping this was the answer... So - after my long ramble - I wondered how long we'll have to wait to see any results.... Has anyone else's Los had this procedure and if so how long until bf got easier, enjoyable?!

OP posts:

Sunflower1985 · 21/12/2013 22:07

My ds had a ptt snip and it took about 2-3 weeks with tongue exercises until I realised it didn't hurt anymore.

Original poster

flopsybunny45 · 21/12/2013 22:32

Sorry I didn't make it clear - our dd finally had second frenulotomy done yesterday...
Worried she's too old at 4 months to forget her bad bf habits!
Anyone with similar experiences?

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ElleCloughie · 21/12/2013 23:09

Watching this thread with interest. We believe my 10wo DD has a PTT, have an appointment to see the paediatrician towards the end of Jan. She will be getting on for four months, so I do hope people have had positive outcomes at this age. I think I'll cry if not!

Original poster

flopsybunny45 · 22/12/2013 08:09

Elleclough - what are your experiences so far?

I am so closing to giving up with bf.
This is the second tie snip she's had.
Only 48 hours on but she's still constantly on and off the breast, screaming away. ??
My husband keeps reassuring me she's just learning to feed again.
I just cannot help feeling like she's hates it, is not getting enough food and is starving all the time ??

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Original poster

flopsybunny45 · 22/12/2013 08:12

Elleclough - what are your experiences so far?

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ElleCloughie · 22/12/2013 11:16

DD has been a non-latching baby from the start. I spent the first three weeks expressing. With the help of a fab breastfeeding counsellor I was able to get her feeding from the brest with shields, and we all hoped that the latching would just be resolved as she grew. However there has been no change since then. I had come across tongue tie while researching online, and stumbbled across this link not long ago. So many of the symtoms match us - mammoth feeds, comfort sucking, mishapen nipples, blanching, frequent blocked ducts, very windy etc etc. Brought it up with GP who has referred us to the paediatrictian but it's a long wait. I'm not qure we could afford to go private, and there aren't really any services in our part of the country.

I really hope things improve for you. I've read that lots of people do find it takes a week or two for baby to learn how to do it without the restriction of the tie. I've found when things have been rough that it has helped to set myself as deadline - our latest one is to keep going until the paediatrician appointment. That was the only way I got through some of the early days - keep going until such and such time, then if you still want to pack it in, at least you know you gave it everything you could.

minipie · 22/12/2013 11:20

Flopsy, my DD's PTT was cut at 16 weeks old. It took about 5 days iirc to really notice a difference. It took 10 days until feeding was easy.

I didn't do any exercises/re training with DD after the snip (I asked the surgeon and he said it wasn't necessary). Just fed her 3 hourly.

If you can persevere for a week you should see a major difference based on my experience and what I've read on here.

minipie · 22/12/2013 11:21

PS if you don't see a difference within a week, then do get the tie seen again - to check in case of re attachment.

IndigoTea · 22/12/2013 12:07

I didn't feel a difference until around a month after it. I don't know if the division (which some has suggested has already re-attached) made a difference or whether it was because her mouth had grown and thus she was able to take more in.

I had a horrible horrible ride and I would have given up so many times had she taken a bottle, which she completely refused to take. I had mastitis three times, thrush etc etc and really was at the end of my tether. I'd say give it a month after the tie if you can and then decide what to do. Now I enjoy breastfeeding though it isn't always completely pain free - I've just got used to it.

CraftyBuddhist · 22/12/2013 15:31

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

flopsybunny45 · 22/12/2013 18:15

Thanks so much for the advice everyone! It has got to the point where my husband thinks it's destroying me - he's so pleased that I've had some other experiences to relate to.

craftybuddist - that's very kind - I always assumed I would bf for at least 6 mths... I also assumed women didn't do it bc they chose not to.

I now feel so naive and so exhausted. The government is so keen for mothers to bf and yet the Lcs just aren't there enough at the beginning!

minipie - your experience sounds similar to ours - would you mind telling me more about it? What was dc like before/after? How did you eventually get it sorted?

Indigotea - your experience sounds miserable - I should be thankful I haven't had mastitis but the doctors have tried to treat me several times for thrush - searing my itchy areola. I am now covinced it had just been her constantly falling off and only taking the nipple in.

elle - like your idea of a deadline too - our pead app is at beginning of jan so that's my current deadline.

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Tulip2013 · 23/12/2013 09:51

Wow flopsy well done for keeping going. Sounds like you've done amazingly. My DD (now 9 weeks) was born on 2nd percentile and struggled to latch at all which meant bleeding, cracked nipples, mastitis (twice), thrush and a very unhappy mummy! And more worrying a baby who is now described as Failure to Thrive Was checked for tongue tie at least 6 times by different people (midwives in hospital, community midwives, private LC and health visitors) and a PTT was only spotted at 8 weeks old. Luckily our health visitor got a cancellation at TT clinic on Wednesday and it was cut. At first the health visitor running the clinic said she was reluctant as the tie didn't look that bad but she did it and acted very surprised as apparently there was 'much more of a release than expected'. So maybe what looks like not much of a tie ( 25% as you say) can do more than you think?!? I'm inclined to agree with your DP, and my DDs PTT definitely hasn't been a magic cure yet (bleeding nips this week too!). Keep going if you can Hun! Big hugs!

My DD has weekly weigh in this afternoon so in hoping for a difference on the scales.

minipie · 23/12/2013 12:02

Hi Flopsy

Sure - well, feeding DD before the snip was pretty stressful. She would come off a lot and have to be relatched, getting crosser each time, especially if she was tired (bedtime feed was often awful). She would also clamp down when feeding which made me sore and cracked my nipples once. She swallowed loads of air - I could hear the gulping sound - and was very windy which made her sleep very badly especially when she was tiny. She very rarely seemed sleepy and "milk drunk" after a feed.

She did put on weight fine though - probably because she was premature and tube fed at the start which meant I had a big supply, established by lots of hospital pumping rather than by her rubbish latch.

We also thought she had silent reflux at various times and she was put on ranitidine. I now think this was a result of the TT, basically the air she swallowed would sometimes come up bringing acid with it.

We thought about switching her to bottle feeding but she was pretty bad on bottles too - couldn't seem to "latch" and swallowed lots of air.

When I had yet another round of v painful nipples at about 15 weeks I called a lactation consultant, who looked at DD's mouth and said "posterior TT" . (I was pretty surprised as a nurse at the hospital had actually said dd definitely didn't have TT because she could stick her tongue out - turns out this is a common misconception about TT).

Anyway we got it snipped a few days later. At first there wasn't a huge amount of difference. Gradually though (over about 10 days) she got better and better at staying on, and fed much more calmly. She could also manage both boobs for the first time, previously she had been exhausted after boob 1. And she was much sleepier and calmer after a feed. Basically feeding DD now looked like how everyone else's baby seemed to feed! And no soreness from feeding (though I did get blocked ducts at various points but that was much later).

HTH

Original poster

flopsybunny45 · 23/12/2013 13:51

Thanks tulip2013 - hope things get better for you too!

My dd was born btwn 9th and 25th and also, like your dc minipie somehow maintained her weight I think due to constant snacking. She has now fallen though to 2nd PC.

She seems calmer but is still not happy going further onto my boob than the nipple and is still slipping on and off. The feed also still only lasts a couple of minutes at most on each side.

Getting to the point where I'm wondering if she just really doesn't want it anymore

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Original poster

flopsybunny45 · 23/12/2013 23:25

The lc said I need to relax my shoulders more when I feed her but I find if I do this, she slips off the boob instantly and gets cross...

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minipie · 24/12/2013 08:06

ooh yes, I had to really hunch over (like they tell you not to) when feeding dd. I know this changed over time but can't remember whether it was after the snip or later, sorry.

Flip