If I get all bolshy and demand a referral for my baby's tongue tie, will I get to see someone who knows what they're talking about or will they just snip first, ask questions later?

[IAteRosemaryConleyForBreakfast]

Background is thus:

Baby IARCFB is 6 months old and has always been farty, the fartiest baby out there. Tongue tie noticed by community MW but caused no BFing pain so no treatment offered. He was the child from hell until he hit 4 months, at which point he got marginally nicer to be around. However, over the last few weeks he's become really grotty at nights, sore tummy, windy, feeding really frequently (hourly last night ) and generally unhappy. Definitely gaining weight though.

I've cut out dairy to no effect, tried Infacol again, to no effect, continued the baby massage, burping in wild and wacky positions etc. But I still have a feeling the tongue tie is a problem. When he feeds you can hear him squeak as if every mouthful has a bubble. He also rumbles loads when feeding (sounds like toilets flushing in his tum!). I have no nipple pain whatsoever, or I didn't until last night's frenzy .

The nice lady from the NCT BF line reckons I should go for it and push to be seen by a paediatrician. My HV has warned me the GP might be reluctant to refer. I am quite prepared to stamp my feet a bit but what I want is to be seen by someone who really knows the score, because I certainly don't want to put DS through a GA unless it's actually going to help. So to those with experience of tongue-tie snippage, did/will the doc assess the situation re BF before going ahead or will they just do it and see if it helps?

I don't know much about this but after reading up a bit a couple of years ago, I think it's very hard to get a snip these days. I'm sure there was a thread where someone got the procedure done privately in Southampton.

DD2 was tongue tied and was snipped at nine days old. It definitely helped.

At the time (two years ago) we had to travel to Southampton. We were referred by a NHS BFC. The consultant's name is Mervyn Griffiths and it is most definitely BF friendly.

I gather that our local BFCs have now got the go-ahead to perform the snip themselves. But that applies to newborns, and I don't know what the implications are for older babies.

Have you looked here?: www.babyfriendly.org.uk/page.asp?page=154

It appears to be a list of places that will do it - if there is one near you there might be some milage in trying to make contact with them.

Look here, too, if you haven't already:

www.babyfriendly.org.uk/page.asp?page=152

Mr Griffiths in Southampton wouldn't do my ds tongue-tie as he was breast-feeding okay at the time. He did however say he would see him again at 6 months if he had a problem with solids. I wish I had been a bit more assertive at the time.

That's interesting yogimum. DD2 was feeding "okay" at the time, and gaining well, but making me a bit sort. Maybe it's lucky I saw one of Mr Griffiths' underlings, not the man himself!

"sore", obviously, not "sort"

Thanks for all that folks. Seeing GP on Tues and think I might try and see a BFC in person to get the latch checked out too.

It probably depends a lot where you are. Here, I was v lucky, there's the world's best lactation consultant who I went straight to (not that I don't think my GP would have had a problem, I just figured she was most appropriate) got referred immediately to a consultant paediatrician who is also an NCT advisor as well as having bfed all 3 of her kids, spoke to her the next day (?thurs) and on the basis of my story she saw me the next week - possibly tuesday.
Other people have difficulty getting a referral at all, and then see a specialist who's worse than no use.
Try going armed with the NICE guidelines - I put a link here on Hunker's blog. Good luck.

IARCFB my ds2 had his tongue tie snipped at 3 weeks because it was so painful to breastfeed him.

tbh I think that seeing a BFC is really the best thing for you because the tongue tie snip isn't something they'll just do at the drop of the hat, and if you can get it sorted through latchi9ng and positiuoning then that's much better.

Also, I know when they're tiny they just snip it with scissors, but when babies are older it will involve a GA because it's so much harder to do on an older child. Not sure what the age limit is but it;s something to bear in mind

oh and my ds1 was also so farty it was unbelievable- some children just are.
your baby could well be going through a growth spurt which would explain the frequent feeding and general grumpiness

oh just to add, we didn't see a GP at all. I was referred by the midwife. so you don't necessarily have to get a referral from a GP. I think lactation consultants can refer as well

My grandmother, my mum, my brother and I are all tongue-tied.

The problems you are describing has very little to do with being tongue-tied imo. Breastfeeding and bottlefeeding can be a complete nightmare (takes forever)

Btw my mum had an op to 'cure' her and it didn't work.

I found bf very painful to start off and went to a BFC who said the latch was fine but lo had tongue tie. she referred us to the clinic at kings college and we were seen in a week and the snip was done. It was really quick. No anaesthetic, she cried for about 10 secs and fed right away. It wasn't as bad as i thought it was going to be, and she was far less bothered than me. It worked for us and 10 months down the line we're still BF.
I think your BFC will be your best bet as they can refer directly and see it more often.