Posterior tongue tie - any advice?

[blackpoolilluminations]

DD is 10 days old and I've been having problems getting her to latch effectively.

In bf my eldest for 1.5 years and I'm a trained peer supporter so I SHOULD be able to answer my own questions but I'm getting more frustrated and desperate.

DD1 struggled to feed too but nipple shields did the trick until she got the hang of it. DD2 just keeps knocking them off with her flailing hands and still doesn't manage a proper feed.

She has a poor gape, a shallow latch and often just plays about with my nipple - I can easily pull it out her mouth so no proper seal.

She does occasionally go on OK and when she does it's like I'm flooding her with milk, she looks so panicked! Think I must have a fast let down.

Yesterday the MW had another look in her mouth and said she could feel a posterior tongue tie. They are often left untreated unless causing feeding issues, so she helped me with latch (which did actually help and she took a good feed) but I've struggled to get her on properly myself.

Anyone else had to get a posterior TT snipped? And did it help with feeding?

She gets weighed tomorrow so I'm anxious to see how much she's put on - she'd only lost 2oz by day 4. She's also not pooed in 2 days and my paranoid brain is telling me it's because she's not getting enough milk.

She seems happy and content otherwise - feeds every 2-3 hours from 10 - 30 mins

Bump

I had DS's posterior tie snipped at 9 weeks (took that long for anyone to notice it as he was gaining ok). It was brilliant. He stopped gagging and spluttering, massively reduced the acid he was producing, and I hadn't realised how painful feeding was until it wasn't iyswim.

Both mine had posterior tongue ties snipped privately at 7 weeks. I wouldn't hesitate if I were you (other than cost) - it can only help, I think.

Also had my DD's significant posterior TT divided at 2 weeks and even then I wish it had been picked up and done earlier, as by that point feeding was agony fairly well established and the subsequent re-learning process she had to go through to master feeding again resulted in a bout of rip-roaring mastitis for me! That said, I would have do it again in a heartbeat as it improved the discomfort so much for me and milk transfer seemed much more efficient (eventually) for her.

Yes DS had posterior tongue tie, we got it divided and it made a huge difference.

As a trained peer supporter you should know that tongue tie can cause various issues and not just with feeding. And you must know that if tongue tie is suspected, the best thing is to get a proper tongue tie assessment done by a lactation consultant or tongue tie practitioner? Hopefully you already know who the LCs and TT specialists are in your area? I suggest you see one of them.

See this link for useful info about tongue tie, including issues it can cause and what assessment and division involve:
www.tongue-tie.org.uk/Mobile/m-tongue-tie-information.html

Took us till 18 weeks to get a posterior TT diagnosis for ds. I was in bits, my nipples were shredded, he had reflux, weight gain was slow. Latch wad good, but no seal, clicking when he fed etc. Lactation consult who snipped it said it may not make a difference.

It is catagorically THE best thing we could have done. It was different for feeding immediately, he fed so much better, it wasn't painful anymore. He's 7 months now a days we're still bf-ing.

We were reffered through infant feeding specialist HV. I found her at our local breastfeeding group. Good luck, and Congratulations!

Yes snipped at ten days and massively helped, still feeding at 17 months although just about to start my own thread about continued nipple pain!