Difficulty breastfeeding, is it too late to try again?

[JungleRun21]

My son is 2 weeks old and feeding has been difficult. He has an anterior tongue tie which was noted at birth but the hospital wouldnt cut it despite us asking for it to be done based on the trouble I had feeding my daughter when she had a tongue tie.

The hospital and community midwife checked his latch and said its perfect, however he struggles to latch. Takes forever, becomes increasingly frustrated until he ends up crying hysterically.
Ill add he has a heart issue so I want to keep things as stress free as possible for him right now.

Ive had 1 day in the last 2 weeks where I have felt as though my milk has come in. On this day I pumped 1 Oz and that was it. Since then there has been no firmness in my breasts at all.
Ive tried latching him before every feed but we're at the point now where he just cant manage it and a bottle of formula has been easier and less stressful all round.

We have finally been referred for a tongue tie assessment but the appointment isnt for another 2 weeks.
What is the likelihood of having the tie cut and his latch improving greatly enough to breastfeed without the drama?
I barely have milk, would this improve now or am i being unreasonable to even consider it as an option?

Any advice would be hugely appreciated as I felt like I failed my daughter when I couldnt feed her and its happening again which is making me feel useless.
Appreciate fed is best and thats fine, but i would like to try if i can.

You can still breastfeed even if you need to combine with formula. Difficult to say that it's possible without drama but you can do it! I know exactly how you feel as I had difficulty with both my DC but I was able to combi feed and fed them until 2 and still going with DS at 2.5! It has been hugely beneficial for both of us even if it has never been their only source of nutrition. It's not too late at 2 weeks old. Just want to encourage you so much and tell you you're not a failure even though I know it's difficult to avoid that feeling and a sense of guilt. You're doing your absolute best!

It could be possible but it would be a lot of work. You need to start pumping every couple of hours, including through the night, to get your supply up.

My DC had severe tongue tie and we had to pay in the end to get it cut as the wait time on the NHS was ridiculous... the hospital noted she had a tongue tie but just said oh well let's just see how it goes. (?!!) If that is an option, I'd do it. You could have it sorted much sooner.

That said, I wouldn't expect it to fix everything, it didn't for us and feeding was really tough for a few months BUT we both look forward to feedings now.

This will sound silly but it's positive that he's attempting to latch. It means he's still wanting to feed from the breast. It might be a "hardware" issue. Have you tried squishing your nipple down smaller, like a little burger, so that it's easier for him to get his mouth around it and stay on? My Mum showed me how to do this and it worked to get my baby on to the side she struggled with at first.

I would also say, if you want to establish your supply, forget absolutely everything for a few days and let DH do everything. Set up a comfy space where you won't be disturbed and focus just on feeding him. No guests for now. Get your favourite snacks in, plenty of skin to skin, it'll calm you both down. Good luck x

Hi my little girl had tongue tie that wasn't caught till around 4 weeks old, definitely keep trying until the tie is cut, we were doing combined feeding and once the tie was cut we've now managed to get to 9 months just breastfeeding its definitely worth it!!

Op, I would definitely get on an exclusive pumping routine from now to try and encourage your supply to increase. It will help to still try & latch him regularly to activate the loop response. Once his tie is cut, hopefully you’ll have a decent supply, enough to make him want to latch at least. I’d recommend power pumping too and pace feeding baby to avoid a bottle preference xx

If you can afford it, it might be worth an appointment with an IBCLC. It sounds like a tricky situation with the tongue tie and heart condition so really think it would be worthwhile if it’s an option.