Breastfeeding a tongue tied baby

[Rosecottage888]

4 day old DS has a slight tongue tie and I wondered in anyone has any tips on making feeding more comfortable (for me!!) midwife is visiting tomorrow but the thought of one more night of excruciating pain is filling me with dread.

During a MW phone appointment yesterday she said it sounded like he's getting what he needs, as in I can see all the tell tale signs he is getting milk, can hear swallowing, seems full etc but that the pain is probably coming from the latch because of his tongue. Would some nipple shields benefit maybe?

I really want to persevere so any tips or advice would be most gratefully received!!

Thank you

It sounds like you and baby are doing great.
My own personal experience
The first 7 days were painful,like fire at every latch,but usually subsided after a few minutes....But legit,the 8th day,it was like the heavens opened up and the intense pain went away.
Use lanolin,constantly.It won't hurt baby or mess with your latch.

Has your midwife made her visit and what were her thoughts on the tongue tie?

And CONGRATULATIONS on your baby and your perseverance to bf!
❤🤗🥰

My baby was tongue tied. We had the operation at two weeks old but the first few days were agony. I was lucky to have a lot of lactation consultants around (two in my apartment building!).

Nipple shields helped, and also squeezing my boob (top to bottom) and pushing it further into his mouth so he had the whole aureola in his mouth.

I also had an oversupply of milk so he coughed and spluttered a lot but hopefully that's not an issue for you!

For me, it did get better as the baby naturally learned a better latch - by 8 days the pain was mild and I would have cancelled the cut but felt pressured into it by my medical team. By the time they did the cut, I was completely pain-free.

Ds1 had a tongue tie that was missed until 4 weeks. Bf wasn't painful at all but he didn't gain weight, i got mastitis as he couldn't feed properly etc.

if it carries on being painful/ baby doesnt gain weight, i would get it snipped. It was really quick and easy. Didnt make much difference fir ds1 as it was quite late when he was diagnosed, but dc2 had it done on day 3 and made a huge difference.

My two were both TT. It was much easier after the op. Sooner the better!

@rosecottage888 congratulations on the birth of your son! Tongue ties are a pain! My DS (now 16) has one and back then it wasn't procedure to do the division, as a result he was bottle fed.

My DD (8weeks) has a posterior tongue tie, a small tongue (it's growing) and an extremely high palate. We have had the tie divided and are currently seeing a cranial osteopath to see it that will help with the high palate as that can impact feeding and I understand is common in tongue ties babies.

One of the things that is helping me feed my DD at present is the koala feeding hold, takes a little getting used to (is similar to laid back position just an upright position for you and baby) as it encourages a deeper latch. I don't have experience of nipple shields although 2 other mums of TT babies in my NCT class swear by those and nipple cream to get them through

Thank you so much for the replies, it's reassuring to think the pain will go...

So I tried nipple shields last night and feeding on my left was like a dream, I thought I had found the trick! When it came to the right however, no difference at all. Although that is the nipple that is most cracked and sore. Also, how do you keep those things stuck down!? They were fine on the first feed but got a bit tricky for the next few...

We are due to have the tie snipped on 14th, praying this will make a difference! And I will definitely be trying the koala hold thank you to the person who mentioned that. I've been using the rugby ball hold until now as it's been the least painful.

You guys are great, thank you again.

I had a TT DS. I was desperate for relief and slathered on the lanolin but put on far too much and DS kept sliding off and couldn’t latch. Sometimes less is more