tounge tie and breastfeeding, any experience?

[preggerspoppet]

I have fot a tread running asking for advice for my very farty newborn, (I cant believe how many farts he is doing as I type this!!)
I have had lots of very helpful advice and 2happy suggested I look for a tounge tie, which I did this evening and it looks like he might have one. he has the classic heart shape tip but I cant see under the tounge very easily.

could this be making him very farty? should I get it checked out?

sorry, it is really dark in this room, I can hardly see the keys properly... I meant 'got a thread'

It may make it harder for him to latch on properly and that can make things sore for you. Don't know whether it might also make him swallow more air?

Some babies with tongue tie manage fine, others need it snipped. It was the first thing the bf counsellor looked for when I had problems. Definitely worth seeing someone if you think it's a possibility.

(ds didn't have it btw so this is all I know)

preggarspoppet, sorry you're having a hard time with your DS. I'm sure it could be making him windy if he is gulping air whilst feeding with a poor latch.

I haven't read your original thread, but thought that this link to a recent tongue tie thread might help. It isn't related to wind, but might be helpful anyway. It is worth talking to your midwife/HV about the possibility of DS having a tongue tie, but be aware that they may be unhelpful - opinions vary about the usefullness of the tongue tie diagnosis and treatment.

HTH

Hi. My ds has a short tongue (tongue tied) and I couldn't breastfeed him when he was born so he went onto bottles. He was a very windy baby, but more colicky than farty pants. The hv put this down to his tongue but they wouldn't cut it as it wasn't the policy (he's now 4 yrs). When dd was born last year, she was also born with a short tongue but not as bad as ds. She can stick her tongue out past her bottom lip but then you can see that the middle bit is making a heart shape. She has had no problems with wind, but was also bottle fed - not because of the tongue, but because she was born with a tooth and bit me! Hence one very painful sore boob and the shout of 'get the bottles out...' to my dh when she was born!
When I enquired with the hv, the policy now is to cut the tongue if it is causing problems. Neither have had theirs cut.
It's a hereditary thing - it runs on my dh's side. His sister is very short tongued but speaks perfectly - better than any of us!
Anyway, getting back to windy issues - I found that using specialist colic bottles (Dr Brown) helped ds as all the air is sent back into the bottle through a little tube in it.
HTH

I doubt it preggerspoppet.

If he has slight tongue tie then it shouldn't interfere with his feeding at all, especially if you've not noticed a problem, you are not sore etc. My ds has slight tongue tie but it never interfered with his feeding or talking at all and is now hardly noticable as his tongue has grown.

Very windy is more likely to be your diet if you are breastfeeding - steer clear from citrus fruits. Or if you are bottle feeding then try changing brands.

Aha! Found you!

I'm tongue tied, as is my dad - is there anyone in your/dp's family who is tongue tied?

ds1 didn't have a tongue tie, and I forgot () to check ds2 when he was born so only noticed when he smiled at me when he was 5w old. He had the classic heart shaped tongue and, critically, couldn't lift his tongue up very high.

He started feeding well, but became worse as he got older - this is apparently classic as your let down becomes less vigorous and they have to work harder for the milk. He was incredibly faffy, popping on and off, and shaking his head madly. He also, as I mentioned, was very windy, lol! And he dribbled quite a bit. He wasn't slow at feeding, though, which they can often be.

We saw a lactation consultant who referred us to a paediatric surgeon - am very lucky that there was one who specialises in breast feeding, tongue ties etc. We discussed the pros and cons. If you don't get it snipped it may:

1. cause problems with speech - no way of knowing until they are older, by which time they would need a general anaesthetics to have it sorted
2. cause problems with dental hygiene (because they can't use their tongue to clean their teeth - can't say I ever noticed this myself)
3. cause problems licking ice lollies (get a 99 cone instead, lol!)
4. cause problems french kissing (my dh doesn't complain, but I did get teased at school )

but equally, it may never bother your lo at all, and so you are inflicting a procedure that may be unnecessary. In the end what swung it for us was that the paediatrician said it was a very significant tie, and I felt it was affecting his feeds and it was starting to cuase a fair bit of nipple pain. (His weight gain, however, was exemplary). She also said that in the majority of cases they didn't cry and some even slept through it, so they thought it didn't cause a lot of pain. We went for it - he screamed , but within minutes was fine. His feeding continued to improve for about a week after and I really couldn't believe the difference - I hadn't properly appreciated how bad a feeder he was until he improved.

It is, as always, your decision. First, find out if he has a tongue tie - see you MW/HV/GP (or post a picture on MN and I'll tell you, lol!), and if he has discuss referral with them. I'm happy to let you know anything else (though I think this post is sooooooo long I'm not sure what else there is!) - I'll keep an eye on this thread, or you can always find me on Jan 07 post natal thread or CAT me or whatever.

I'll put some links in of websites I found useful, there are also lots of previous threads on MN to search for.

HTH!
Dr Sears
kellymom links
government link
even Wikipedia!!

wow! thankyou 2happy that is really helpful.
ds manages to stay on the boob but I get the feeling that he is not in full control of it iyswim, he seems to take so much milk very quickly and then let out a little cry. his feeds are very quick, weight gain appears to be good, although he has not been weighed for a while. dh can't see the heart shape but it is definatey there.
I'm going to investigate the links you have sent and speak to the gp.
very kind of you to offer such a lot of advice, thank you. x

You're welcome
I'd love to know the outcome, though, what your GP says in the end!

my dd had a partial tongue tie (no heart shaped tip) and it made her latch very painful!!!!!!!!!!! Was snipped and latch much improved. It's not the degree of the tongue tie just whether it interferes with feeding for them - I think the whole mouth thing more complicated than that IYSWIM.

It's a quick thing to have it divided they cry, they feed immmediately they stop crying and it never bled again or anything, the affects were an immediate improvement. I wouldn't hesitate to have it done again.