Tongue tie and esophagal flap advice please

[Wsandy]

Hi all i saw the infant feeding team today with my 3 week old, they said she has a weaker esophagal flap which is making her take in more air and causing her to be sick after feeds, they've also said she seems to have a tongue tie at the back of her tongue, and a higher palate just wondering if anyone else has gone through this and anyone has any advice? Did anyone get their babies tongue tie done privately? Any tips to help lessen babies air intake when feeding? They're also said she seems to latch with her lips on a bottle and on breast
thanks in advance

DD2 had a high palate and a 90% tongue tie. Diagnosed at 8 weeks. In my area, it's a 4-6 week wait for division on the NHS so we paid to have it done privately. Unfortunately for DD2, we were unlucky and it took a very long time for her to regain her tongue strength and mobility - we eneded up under a specialist SALT feeding team. But I'm told this is really not the norm and improvements should be seen within a couple of weeks normally. I also took her to an osteopath which helped as well.

Hi there it's a midwife with infant feeding experience. What is the actual issue that made you go to the infant feeding group?

Further to the earlier message, apologies... What was the actual advice? I am trying to work out what the actual issue could be

Hi, my 3 children all had the tongue tie procedure. One on the NHS and the other two privately. The procedure was quick a straight forward but unfortunately i didn't see a drastic improvement with their feeding afterwards.

Hi, my baby would vomit so much when feeding.
NHS said very very slight tongue tie, I went private they said very slight also.
We got it done. Baby still vomitting constantly Baby just couldn't cope with my let down of milk as I produced a lot of milk so baby was slipping back on the latch to cope.
If I could turn back time I would look at the whole feeding picture rather than focusing on her tongue tie. My supply eventually regulated and she started to stay latched on much better.
Definitely get a 2nd opinion privately and go from there is all I could advise but also definitely reach out to breast feeding groups, it's daunting but simple tips for better latch etc helped me so so much x
hope things get better for you x

It was the health visitor who reffered us as im combi feeding but would like to try and just breastfeed but she wouldnt stay latched, she said there isnt anything we can do about the esophagal flap but for the tongue tie she reffered us to nhs

Weve just booked to go privately as nhs in our area is 6-8 week as well, did you give any calpol before hand or anything our baby will be 4 weeks at the time of procedure x

Definitely going to reach out to some breastfeeding groups, ive started to use nipple shields and noticed she stats latched a lot better now as well :)

Hi there, just got a chance to reply apologies. I would say definitely go to your local breastfeeding support group before going private. How old is your baby? Are you pumping milk between the feeds? I can't be certain what the problem is based on a short Mumsnet post. However I have seen it plenty enough times to suspect the following scenario. If you are not pumping between feeds your baby might be frustrated with the "reward " she getting from suckling on the breast and pulls away. It's so much easier drinking from a bottle. The answer to this problem is to pump between feeds. I suggest you start at least 3 times in 24 hours 10 minutes on each side twice, 40 minutes in total. Frequency matters more than quantity. You should see the difference in your milk supply after 72 hours. Then you could start gradually reducing the formula with milk. As your breasts get fuller it might be easier for your baby to suckle as well. Breastfeeding specialists don't recommend nipple shields as they lead to lower milk supply in the long run. That's because the breast doesn't get enough stimulation from the baby's mouth. Regarding shallow latch- I am going to send a good link on good positioning and attachment in a minute. Please don't go for private tongue tie devision before addressing the basics. Tongue tie devision isn't a magic procedure. Don't be too hard on yourself. The first few weeks are incredibly hard and every drop of breast milk matters.

We had both of our children's tongue ties done privately when they were a few weeks old. Very quick, tiny bit of blood, cried for 10 second and then all done. Didn't give calpol or anything. Heeling was fine. Hope it goes well.

Regarding the video- I am really struggling with my phone at the moment. Please Google up Global Health Media Breastfeeding Videos and find the video What to do about nipple pain. Even though you don't have nipple pain, this video is excellent in explaining what a good latch looks like and why it matters. I hope it helps

I don't think you can give calpol before 8weeks. The division takes a second and you'll be asked to offer baby the breast immediately afterwards for their comfort. Yes it's not pleasant for them but neither is watching baby practically choke on their milk every time they drink.

I was fobbed off so many times by NHS professionals who kept claiming it must be the latch or it must be a supply issue and not worry about the TT. 🙄 Told to keep triple feeding / pumping / topping up for months on end when it was damaging my MH and my relationship with my older child We were giving dangerous advice by the NHS about cup feeding, which could have led her to choke. If anyone had bothered to actually look in DD2s mouth, they would have seen that she couldn't move her tongue! How on earth was that going to be solved without a division. The specialist we saw spotted her problem as soon as she lay down - why 6 or 7 NHS professionals had missed it, ill never understand. Our division was done by a senior consultant at the biggest TT clinic in London - he runs the NHS clinic and has his own private clinic on the side and he was horrified at what we had been told by the MWs and the specialist breastfeeding drop in clinic. So although it is important to look at the whole picture, I know too many people who have been dismissed by the NHS, so definitely getting a second opinion is important. Just make sure you see someone reputable.