Tongue tie snipped but still in pain / bad latch?

[Sunshineseeker80]

Hi,
My daughter is 4 weeks old, and had a tongue tie spotted at birth. It was snipped about 10 days ago, which I thought would help with feeding pain problems, and whilst things are better they still aren't 'right'...

My nipples have big wounds from feeding through the tongue tie, and despite having novogel pads, they just aren't healing. The Breastfeeding specialist at the local group has suggested we get swabbed for thrush just in case, which we will get done next week, but neither me or my daughter have obvious symptoms, so I suspect the pain is being caused by bad positioning or bad latch.

I cannot for the life of me get my LO to open her mouth wide as described in the text books. Also she seems to still chew on the nipple with her bottom gum and jaw which is causing friction (and pain). I don't know how to encourage her to use her tongue to suck rather than her gum/jaw. Does anyone have any experience of problems post tongue tie snipping, and any suggestions on what I can do to correct this still shallow latch? I have a reasonable pain threshold but I am still finding feeding very stressful and cry at least one feed a day because we can't seem to get it right. She is putting on weight again (after losing more than 10% post birth because of tie) and I don't really want to 'give up'...I accept I may never enjoy Breastfeeding but I would be happy to just feel neutral towards it and I really want it to not hurt or be a source of stress anymore so any help or experience would be greatly received

Thanks in advance

Yes I was the exact same it took 4 mths for my nipples to heal fully after ptt snipped at 3 weeks. It slowly got better and I focused constantly on trying to improve latch. It was incredibly stressful but I have had 2 full more years of better bf when things healed fully. Tbh his latch has never been perfect but it was worth it. You have my complete sympathy. Btw I used shields for about 7 weeks and they got me through the worst.

When mine had her tongue tie snipped the latch still wasn't right.

The lactation consultants told be to take her off every time it wasn't right so she learned that she had to open wide. She just refused to feed when I did that

Taking her to see a cranial osteopath really helped, he said that her face was quite tight but whatever he did it did improve things. Still ended up with wedge shaped nipples though!

Sorry to say it was only with the next dc that I discovered bf could be painless. I really think with my dd that it was in part her personality when it came to food she didn't do change at all - switching to bottles was traumatic, switching to cows milk was traumatic, weaning was traumatic, giving up bottles was traumatic - had never had any issues with my eldest and these things - LOL.

If you can use nipple shield it may help you considerably with the pain and let them heal. Other than that it's patience and perserverence IME. Go and see your feeding person again and again so they can help get a better latch.

It's worth going back to your GP with this; DS2 had his tongue tie snipped at 6 weeks. Sort of improved but not great, I BF DS1 so I know the difference IYSWIM. GP referred back to surgeon who performed the initial snip and the scar tissue had become fleshy. It happens fairly often. A very quick surgical procedure at 16 weeks and feeding got so much better. Still BF DS2 now he's 15mo.

I had exactly the same with my DS. His TT was snipped at 14 days but it only slightly increased his latch. I used nipple shields for the whole time I feed him, which was 11 months. He went onto have his upper lip tie cut around his second birthday in hindsight this did seem affect his speech. I'm now on baby number two who is 5 weeks old and despite my hope for an easier time we are again using shields. It got to day 3 and it felt like she had a mouth full of broken glass whilst feeding .
She does not have a tongue tie but despite this still has a very shallow latch. Despite assistance in hospital we could not improve it and I'm resigned to long term shield use again. My nipples are still very tender even whilst using the shields but we are functioning and she is sitting steadily about the 50th percentile. My supply is ok with the nipple shield use but I know the midwives and HV's do warn that they can effect supply in some mums. Maybe I just have wonky nipples

I would suggest getting checked for re attachment of the tongue tie it also may have not been cut deeply enough so there may still be some restriction (theses are both surprisingly common).

I also second CST it really helped my dd open her moth and stick her tongue out.

Was there any improvement after the cut? It dies take a couple of weeks for baby to learn to latch and you need your nipples to heal.

Mine had tt cut at 3-4 weeks, there was no immediate improvement for me though she began gulping more efficiently. Everything else improved more slowly.

She also has a v high vaulted / arched palate which caused difficulties with latch anyway, this has resolved completely now at 4mo. It does get better and for us by about 8-9 weeks I could barely remember being in lots of pain

Thanks ladies for sharing. Good to hear that others have had similar ongoing problems. Thought initially that having tongue tie snipped would fix everything so was feeling very despondent that we were still having problems.

Watched some positioning videos on you tube earlier and have been really strict on taking nipple out and reattaching when it hurt as suggested. Also have made her stick her tongue out before we start a couple of times and that seems to make a difference. Not perfect but have had 2 really decent almost pain free feeds on one side which have given me hope to carry on for another day... for some reason I can't get it work as well on the other side but understand that it is normal to have a preference... Very much taking it one day at a time to try and get to 6 weeks, 8 week etc makes it feel more manageable.

Will get Drs to look at tie wound again when they do the swab test tomorrow, but we had it done at the tongue tie clinic at Kings College Hosiptal and they were really strict on making us do after care to prevent it growing back ('massaging' the wound while LO cries hysterically for 30 secs as I am causing her pain...was blinking hard to do!) so will be really upset if it didn't work. Doesn't look like it has grown back (and was an obvious anterior one, but restricting her lateral movements and tongue elevation) probably worth checking.
Thanks again

It may be worth trying a rugby ball hold on the not favoured breast as your baby will be laying on the same side of her body as her favoured side. I think craniel osteopathy is worth a try as well - I think the teaching clinic in London does subsidised treatments?

I don't know much about cranial osteopathy... What does it do in relation to tongue tie/feeding?

Went to Drs to get thrush swab done and it takes a week for results. Or 63 feeds. Had a little sob about how long this is taking to fix

My dds all (well the 3 a breastfed) had rapid delivery delivery ie the pushing bit. He described that they were very tight around the temples which interfered with their ability to open their mouths wide. It did help with all 3 of them, with the youngest 2 it was noticable immediately. I think with oldest one I was so sore it was difficult to tell.

Worth a shot and recommended by my NHS feeding consultants.

Interesting...I was only pushing with her for 20 mins. Is that rapid? Have found a teaching clinic nr old st so might give them a call tomorrow to discuss.

Sorry to hear you're struggling but pleased that you have had the tt revised early on. I had the same problem with dd2 but it wasn't revised until 12wks by which time I think it was too late for her (my milk supply by then has tailed off too due to poor feeding).

One tip I was given by the LC was instead of taking dd off the breast when she doesn't get a good latch, which is upsetting and frustrating for both of you is to squeeze your breast in (sort of push it down at the top iyswim) whilst bringing baby on a bit more. She will then have more in her mouth which shouldn't be as painful for you.

Tt babies do have a tendency to slip off a bit apparently so I was told to keep watching.

Best of luck and congratulations on your new little one. Whatever you do, enjoy her!

If Old St is convenient to you, I recommend the Osteopathic Childrens Centre - they have a clinic in Shoreditch on Thursdays. I took DD there for cranial after her TT snips. I think it helped (or even if it didn't, it didn't make things worse and at least you feel like you're doing something!)

20 mins is rapid for a first! My last 3 were out in 2 pushes and didn't manage to rotate around to be face down.

Pregnancy and birth is hard on babies, even those born by c-section - they are often quite battered and bruised by the experience as well as the mums.

sunshine you're doing a fabulous job. My LO is now 17 weeks and only got her PTT snipped at 8 weeks. It does slowly get better I promise but for me it took 2-3 weeks. Can you ask them to test the swab for a staph infection too. Everyone kept telling me I had thrush and daktarin did nothing to help but turned out to be a staph infection on top of TT issues. It sounds like you're very determined which is amazing but reminding myself to take it one feed at a time got me through the tough times (sobbing through whole feeds sometimes!).