Talk to me about tongue tie

[BettyButterknife]

I'm expecting DS2 in July and very worried about bfing, as I had such a terrible experience with DS1. Basically he was slow to establish feeding as (it was later discovered) he would try to feed with his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

In the subsequent weeks and months I was in a great deal of pain every time he fed, and each suck felt like my nipples were being sliced with a razor blade. I had blisters, bleeding, and would sob at the pain. I ended up doing mixed feeding from about 6 weeks, and gradually reduced the number of feeds until his last bf after his 4 month vaccinations.

In order to try to resolve the problem I spoke to midwives, HVs, NCT bf counsellors, LLL counsellors over the phone, GPs - none seemed to find anything wrong with my latch.

I read recently a description of feeding a tongue-tied baby which sounded very like the pain I experienced - I always thought I was perhaps suffering from undiagnosed thrush but have since read that I'd experience pain all the time, not just when feeding which was the case for me. But am I barking up the wrong tree? I suppose I'm trying to find a reason for the pain last time in an attempt to convince myself it won't necessarily be the same this time

Yaouch...congratulations for getting to 4 months with that pain.

Sounds like it could possibly have been tongue tie - it is incredible that none of the people you spoke to checked your DS for it. Tongue tie is hereditary, but the good news is that it is a simple procedure to rectify. Diagnosis can be tricky, particularly if it is a posterior (at the back of the mouth) tongue tie. You will be armed in advance this time, and you may be able to find out if there are any specialist midwives dealing with tongue tie in your locality.

Some tongue ties naturally loosen, but some stay - both DH and I have tongue ties. Can your DS stick his tongue out past his bottom lip?

You might get fobbed off with "it doesn't look too bad" - that means nothing - if you are in pain it is bad, and you should be offered a frenulotomy (snipping the tongue tie). Tiny posterior tongue ties can be very damaging to breasts...

Best of luck for July.

My dd2 only had mild TT but having it snipped made a huge difference to the pain I was experience. I know other mums who had babies that had TT and could feed pain free so it's always something to rule out IMHO

my ds2 had tongu tie which wasnt spotted in hosp but by midwife checking him at home. he did take a while to feed after birth. his was right at the front of the tongue. didnt hurt me but he wasnt feeding well. paid to have it privately cut 75, as consultant at hosp only did 1 clinic a week and didnt want to wait days with a hungry newborn. he did feed better after.

My DS1 had an undiagnosed tongue tie and I had similar pain and bf nightmare as you describe, I too persevered until 4 months but only by expressing and bottle feeding him the milk.

With DS2 I was prepared! When he was born he was placed on my tummy and I saw immediately that he had a tongue tie! The paed that came to look at him was useless and stuck ehr finger in his mouth and sais "hes got a strong suck it will be fine"!!!! What a load of tosh! Thankfully the midwives were great and got him an appointment with the ENT clinic when he was 5 days old to have it snipped. BUT... it didn't really hep, I had to take him back and have the muscle further divided when he was 3 weeks as feeding was still agony.

I don't want to put you off or be the bearer of a story without a happy eneding, but sadly the seond smip still did not improve his latch and feeds were terrible. I ended uo getting mastitis 3 times in 5 weeks and so stopped bf at 7 weeks as I could not cope with it anymore, plus DS1 being around meant I did not have the time to devote to it.

So.... as others have said, you will be more aware of it this time, my main point would be to get it sorted asap if it does occur and make sure you insist it is done FAST as this is what makes all the difference imo!

Good luck