Posterior tongue tie

[pinktulipia]

Hello I'm very new to this! My baby daughter is 2 1/2 weeks old. So far breastfeeding has been nightmare: my milk didn't come in until day 5 so she was topped up with formula in hospital although now on breast milk exclusively; then constant feeding including one mammoth 11 hour feed; I have sore, cracked and misshapen (flat on one side after a feed) nipples; she only started gaining weight yesterday which is some progress at least. She is incredibly windy and suffers from constant tummy ache that only enables her to settle briefly when the wind comes up or goes down. From the outside breastfeeding looks great and has been observed by countless midwives and breastfeeding advisors. Yesterday she was diagnosed with a posterior tongue tie and we had it snipped. Immediately afterwards breastfeeding felt great and I thought it had solved all our problems. However once back home she is feeding as before and my nipples are still ridged and sore. I was advised to not let her latch on incorrectly as she now needs to relearn the technique with her 'new' tongue but when I stop her feeding she gets more and more frustrated and I have no idea how to teach her to suck properly as I don't know what properly feels like. I was under the impression that the procedure would work instantly but does anyone have experience of it taking a while to relearn to feed and how did you achieve this? Yesterday I felt so optimistic for the first time since her birth because they had found something that might be fixable and then last night when I realised things were still the same I felt worse than ever and a bit of a fool for thinking there was some hope. I am also really struggling with the sleep deprivation as we are only getting a couple of hours over a day.

Sorry you're having such a tough time, it's really hard. My DS's tongue tie was diagnosed and snipped at a couple of months, and it definitely too a week or so for any real improvement to be noticeable. It certainly wasn't an instant fix, but it definitely made a difference eventually - feeding was agonising before, but the pain did stop and we breastfed for 2 years in the end.

We were told that feeding might be a bit odd for a couple of days after the tongue tie snip anyway, as his mouth would be a little sore and feel strange to him. Perhaps that could be contributing too?

Hi pink, my DS had a posterior tongue tie snipped at 3 weeks. it was a hard road for us to bf as I had to pump and bottle feed for almost 8 weeks before he was on the breast exclusively. I found two things for a good latch helpful - taking a bath together, and googling the "flipple" technique.

Also Google suck training, good luck

I found this video useful:

I had a similar problem. My midwives were a bit rubbish at bf support (and I saw a lot of midwives!) so it is worth seeing if you can see some kind of specific bf support in your area as well.

My ds had his cut at 4 weeks and it was at least 2 more weeks before we consistently latched better (And cracks healed). I found a good bf support group which helped a lot. I really feel for you as it is very tough.w
I've had similar nipple problems this time with dd who doesn't have tongue tie. Turns out the cracks were infected, so if you feel the cracks aren't healing might be worth going to GP. Just to reassure you, now at 6 weeks we are feeding pain free and healed.

It can take some babies a while to relearn. Do suck training before every feed (Google luna lactation melissa cole) and if you have the funds get in touch with an IBCLC (lactation consultant) who deals withpost tt revision. It helps to have support with positioning and ensuring baby is transferring milk effectively as well as checking that the wound is not reattaching.
Good luck, am currently on my second ptt baby so I feel your frustration!

Hiya, my DS had his posterior TT cut at 2.5 wks, like you I was suffering with very cracked, misshapen nipples. It took over a week to see a difference after snip, he went from losing weight to putting on 3 oz the week after snip then 14oz the following week! Been great feeder since.
I really feel for you as I remember how tough it is. I went to a great support group, they got me checked out for infections in the cracks, which I did have on both sides. I also found biological nurturing, and laid back feeding helped us very much early on. Also feeding lying down. Expressing enough to give you a few feeds break (whole day if you can get it) will really help your nipples heal, actiform wet dressings for nipples.

Btw my DS is nearly 9 mths now and we're still going strong... :) good luck, hope things improve for yous.