Possible tongue tie?

[lizzywig]

I can't remember when I noticed but a while ago I realised that DD had a very prominant piece of skin under her tongue - not the same as most people. I mentioned it to my mum and she agreed that it didn't look quite right. To be honest between the sleep deprivation and mushy mummy brain I didn't think about it again until a few weeks ago. My mum & I took DD now 8mo to be weighed last Friday and I asked the HV about her possible tongue tie. She had a look and commented that it did look a bit like it but that it couldn't be because I would have had issues with breastfeeding. I could have screamed at her, I did have horrendous breastfeeding issues with my milk taking almost a week to come in and DD not attaching properly. It took 3 months for her to become attached properly and I had to top up with formula. I had asked for help but got put on a waiting list (by this HV who I spoke to on Friday), I am still waiting for that help and have now given up breastfeeding!! I told her that I'd had troubles but she wouldn't commit to anything. My mum suggested that although she didn't confirm that it definitely was, she didn't say it wasn't.

HV said not to worry about it as DD can poke her tongue out. I said that I heard it could effect their speach and she said that latest research shows this is not the case but (quote) "if she has any troubles when she's older talking then to come back to them". She also said that they don't deal with tongue tie for babies as old as my DD these days and that she's missed the boat, is this true?

Have I been given had advice? I'm wanting to get a second opinion but don't really know who to go to. I'm not keen on our local doctor as they are the sort to fob you off so I don't really know what to do next.

DD2 had issues with her latch - it would slip several times during a feed & she would need relatching again & again - she also made a clicking noise. Her tongue tie was snipped at about 2 weeks. It sounds like you had terrible advice right back at the beginning, did anyone check her for tongue tie when you were having issues breastfeeding.

You could try giving the infant feeding coordinator at your hospital a call, just because they will know what the attitudes towards dealing with tongue tie are like in your area?

Would need to see your DD and I'm no doctor, but it does sound like tongue tie albeit not a full blown one. (I've had two tongue tied DC out of three).

If that's the case though, afraid to say she's given you a load of cr@p, as it can be dealt with anytime, however, true that the sooner you do it the easier it is for everyone involved. She is still quite young, if you went private they may still do it under local anesthetic. It's just a quick snip. With our first tongue tied DC it took them weeks to discover and tell us after enduring horrendous problems with feeding and everything else. With our last born DC we personally checked straightaway and was in the private doctor's clinic the following day even though she had a mild case of tongue tie, but we took no chances and the benefits of dealing with it early on majorly outweight the "benefits" of not dealing with it.

I would advise you to wait for no one and head straight to a private specialist who can tell you straightaway if your DD has TT and to what extent and can deal with it straightaway. The procedure cost us £80 for each child.