Tongue tie re growing - any experience or tips?

[minipie]

Hi all - I am really struggling with bf dd2 and would be grateful for any help.

We had her posterior TT cut at 12 days. BF was SO much better for a couple of days after the cut (suddenly we had a proper strong latch and could feel the tongue doing its "wave" thing) but since then has got worse and worse. She's now 4 weeks.

Latch is now really shallow, like it was pre-cut - DD falls off all the time, my nipples don't get elongated at all by feeding, and I kind of feel like I'm squirting the milk in manually.

I have a good supply (for now at least) so DD is putting on weight well, but she is so windy and gets so frustrated and tired by feeds. She spends most of her awake life desperately trying to bring up wind or grab onto my boob for a few sucks

I have a very fast let down and DD was born early (36+6) so is still quite sleepy - these things are probably contributing to the problem, but I am convinced the main issue is the tongue tie, because it was SO much better straight after the cut. (Also because DD1 had posterior tongue tie and very similar symptoms).

The thing is, I already took her back to the surgeon who cut it, a week after the cut. He said it was probably the scab and to keep doing the tongue massage/see an LC and it would resolve... but the scab is now gone and it hasn't. (I think I wasnt doing the massage properly that first week, so suspect it may have regrown then). I haven't seen an LC yet but am pretty sure my positioning etc is ok.

I will take her back again next week when he has his clinic. but in the meantime I was hoping for some advice from anyone who's been in this situation.

If you had a tt cut twice, did the second time work?
what exercises or massage did you do?
is laser cutting less likely to regrow, does anyone know?
What if he says there is nothing to cut ?
if I give ebm bottle top ups, will that just make things worse...?

sorry for epic post !

We had TT diagnosed after 10 weeks of pain, had it cut by a specialist midwife at 11 weeks (scissor snip) and had exactly the same experience as you. After the initial cut his latch was hugely better, I could feel his much stronger suction and efficiency. Unfortunately by 12 weeks it all went horribly wrong again and my nipples were ridged and bleeding. We were diagnosed with a re grown TT ( they often do as posterior TTs are more fleshy) and went on to have it lasered. We researched and found a super specialist in Huddersfield and travelled the 3 hours to get it done. This time it was done with a cold water laser and it has been very successful (9 months and still feeding). We were give an oily substance to rub on to his wound - it was bee propolis/olive oil/coconut oil and other botanical ingredients. Four times a day we put some on our finger and rubbed it on his wound - he didn't actually mind it, and we did it for 2 weeks. It helped as the specialist demonstrated on me exactly how to do it- how hard to scrub it etc.

Might be worth considering laser treatment if it's the second time you're having it cut?

Happy to answer any other questions well done for persevering

My lo had to have it re-cut at about 6 weeks. I had an idiot doctor who told me that it didn't need doing "as babies don't use there tongue to feed, they stuck. Look. .." (he actually made a sucking action). I was furious and went over his head, spoke to the head midwife and emailed the surgeon who performs them. In the end a midwife a agreed to redo it. It wasn't nice at that age but the simple answer to your question without all of my pent up rage at know it all doctors who like to belittle first time mum's, is yes, it worked fine and was well worth it.

Thank you both!

speedy I am in London so could go to Mr Levinkind who does laser I believe. Just not sure if regrowth is any less likely with laser? is that why you chose laser second time?

that's interesting about the oil - was the stuff in it supposed to help avoid regrowth, or was it just for healing? I was just told to use vaseline or lansinoh.

how often did you have to rub the wound? did you need to do it at night? (I haven't been rubbing at night with dd2... wonder if that was a mistake)

juno at your daft doctor. TT seems to be a source of so much bad advice ... I had a NICU nurse tell me DD1 wasn't tongue tied "because she can stick out her tongue". I therefore dismissed TT as the cause of DD's poor feeding, thought she had reflux... anyway after 16 weeks of wind and pain she finally had her TT diagnosed and cut. As you say not nice at the later age but it did work very well, even without any massage.

I do wonder if tts are less likely to regrow if cut at an older age... juno what age was your LO when first snipped?

I believe that re growth is less likely with laser as some of the connecting tissue is ablated. It was a very quick procedure and I watched it being done, not too much discomfort for DS and I fed him immediately after.

The oily substance I think was just an added bonus, lansinoh would prob do the trick. We did it 4 times a day, not at night, as whilst he wasn't bothered by it, he certainly didn't appreciate it!!

Thanks speedy

Something has to change - poor DD is just so windy and uncomfortable and exhausted all the time. Just hope tt is the answer and it can be successfully cut again...

Yes we had four cuts! Second was due to tie not being severed and 3,4 due to regowth.

Did the stretches religiously after cut 3 but it still regrew.

Around time of cut 4 we had cranial sacral osteopathy and the improvement after each of the 3 sessions was amazing.

We had our DD's tongue tie cut twice. Second time Dr cut slightly deeper and I was more vigilant with massaging it to keep it open.

After that BF was easy. X

Thanks both.

Mcbaby that's interesting about the cranial osteopath, in fact I have taken dd to a cranial osteopath twice and taking her again next week - there is an improvement each time but then it goes away again. Which is partly why I feel there may still be a tongue tie there... (i only started seeing the CO about 10 days after the cut, I think regrowth may have already happened by then). If I get it cut again then I will def book in for more CO straight after.

4 times! poor you. amazed that you kept going, well done.

mermaid thank you I hope our story will be the same!

I think the regrowrh can be very quick so within the first few days as the mouth heals so quickly.

It worked out for us in the end and I fed till 14 months when my supply dropped due to pregnancy and I couldnt face tandem feeding if second child had TT!

Hi minipie, no advice I'm afraid just wanted to say I'm in the same position with my DS, I could have written the majority of your post. He is 6wo, we had his TT snipped on Tues. I'm seeing no improvement yet. Trying to do the exercises to get him to stick his tongue out but when he is awake he's usually unhappy and windy. I'm thoroughly miserable atm. I'm sticking with it as he at least seems to be getting enough milk but it is so hard. Seeing a LC on Mon, hopefully that will help. I hope things improve for you soon

crimson, much sympathy, it is horrible seeing them struggle so much isn't it. only ray of hope I can offer you is that with DD1 (snipped at 16 weeks) it did take a week or two to see the improvement (which came despite no exercises) so hope you see some within the next few days.

mcbaby that makes sense, also dd2 was so young when snipped, she was still not even 40 weeks gestation so I guess that means rapid growth and very quick healing.