tongue tie keeps growing back!

[ilovetosleep]

DS is now 10 weeks. He first had it cut at 10 days and then again around 5 weeks. First time it was a thin 100% tie, second was very thick posterior. It has grown back again very thick.

I don't think I can go through it all again - we are abroad and had to travel far both times to get it cut. No lactation consultants here.

Feeding is ok, it is nearly pain free and a far cry from the agony when he was born. It's just all very sloppy. Latch is poor and he comes on and off a lot. He gets very slobbery and slips around. He is gaining well and I have good supply, so I'm not too worried about that but I really want to go on to feed as I did for DS1, until he was nearly 2yo.

Will his latch improve on its own over time? Can a thick tt stretch as he grows? Is 10 weeks pushing it for retraining? I'm a bit lazy and once he's feeding I can't be bothered to take him on and off and try and teach him. He feeds much better while sleepy and as a result is feeding more frequently in the night than I'd like.

Don't really know what to do. He seems to move his tongue well and often sticks it out, but its obviously inhibiting his latch as it improved so dramatically after the snip but only for a week or so until it grew back.

Obviously I am also concerned about the effects it might have on weaning to solids and also speech.

Anyone else been here?

I haven't had regrowth issues but can answer one part of your question (or at least give you my experience): It's not too late for retraining. DD's posterior TT was snipped at 16 weeks and she relearned to feed much better once her tongue was freed.

I think latch can improve over time, not because the TT stretches per se but because their mouth and tongue grow so it has less impact. I don't know if people manage to long term BF with a TT though - it may get better but perhaps never to the point where it is "easy" iyswim.

Hmmm - if you were in London I'd suggest seeing a dentist (Malcolm Levinkind) who uses laser, as I'd guess that would be much less likely to grow back as it cauterises the cut. But I guess there is noone like that where you are? Plus it's hardly a cheap option...

I've also heard that laser gives a better outcome in terms of re-attachment.

There is some evidence that massaging wound stops tt growing back. NHs won't recommend as not proper evidence but it seem to work.

Has to be done in certain way - try Katherine fisher's website for details - it's her name plus either.com or .co.uk

How do you know if it has grown back?

Curious because DS had a slight posterior TT snipped 4 weeks ago.

We had four cuts in total one due to the tie not being fully cut and two re growths. We got there in the end by six months and I went on to feed till 14 months pain free.

At the time of last cut she had just started solids early to try and get her tongue moving we so had cranial osteopathy which was amazing I could see her tongue function improve after each treatment.

We tried stretches after 3rd cut but it distressed my DD and it still reattached.

I'm so sorry to have started this thread and then gone on holiday and forgotton about it! Thanks for the replies.

I'm convinced it has grown back. I can see and feel it, but he does have good movement of his tongue.

I'm not sure i can go through it all again, the travel etc, but I'm beginning to get v upset about the feeds - they have got pretty bad this week, I'm quite sore and he seems to be grazing them with his gums. Plus they are increasing in frequency and windiness, and he is waking every 2 hours at night - previously 5 hours at night. I'm shattered. And gutted that things are turning out like this when I bf DS1 til he was 2.

I am trying cranial osteo, had one last week and another next week. He is definitely worse on one side and strains his neck to one side so that might have something to do with it.

I know he can latch on - he does brilliantly at bedtime with skin to skin, but 90 % of the time its sloppy and sore and I am so hectic that I don't have the time and energy to give it my full attention during the day with DS1 and his busy schedule...

Is 3 months too late to completely re address latch (I mean without re cutting the tie)?

thanks

I had DD's snipped three times - it kept on reattaching. After the 3rd snip I decided for several reasons not to have it re-cut. I'm glad I made that decision. At that point her latch was ok enough for us to keep going (and very luckily for us, weight gain had never been an issue, it was more to do with my pain, her frustration and my repeated mastitis and blocked ducts). Anyway, here we are at 15 months, still bf (morning and night). Persevere, if you can, as DD's latch improved over time. Or, rather, as her mouth got bigger the quality of her latch mattered less.