Will reflux ease with tongue tie division?

[FolkyFoxFace]

Does anyone have any experience of reflux clearing up or reducing after a tongue tie division? DS (5 weeks) has a posterior TT and the HV also thinks he has silent reflux - all classic signs, none stop screaming, arching back, gurgling. I've smelled the acid when he's posseted too (he doesn't really vomit, hence the silent reflux), so I'm inclined to agree with her. He isn't on any medication yet but the nurse at the infant feeding clinic has said it might clear up when his TT gets snipped.

Does anyone know if this is true? He's getting it done on Friday.

I’ve heard it’s not the magic cure.
I personally wouldn’t wait till the tongue tie is done and get in touch with GP for something for his reflux.

@PinkCookie11

I’ve heard it’s not the magic cure. I personally wouldn’t wait till the tongue tie is done and get in touch with GP for something for his reflux.

That was my initial thought, too. Seemed a very easy fix for something that so many babies really suffer with, regardless of tongue ties. I've heard bad things about infant gaviscon in terms of constipation. DS already suffers with that...is it likely to be a fight to get a GP to prescribe something different?

It really depends how your GP is, their likely to try Gaviscon for a couple of weeks then move into something else.
I was lucky with mine and got ranitidine straight away, they don’t do it anymore sadly so ask for the equivalent of that as it was a total game changer. (Just looked up their are; cimetidine, famotidine and nizatidine)
Just tell them all his symptoms, the acid is coming straight out his mouth and hopefully they give you something stronger for him.

@PinkCookie11

It really depends how your GP is, their likely to try Gaviscon for a couple of weeks then move into something else. I was lucky with mine and got ranitidine straight away, they don’t do it anymore sadly so ask for the equivalent of that as it was a total game changer. (Just looked up their are; cimetidine, famotidine and nizatidine) Just tell them all his symptoms, the acid is coming straight out his mouth and hopefully they give you something stronger for him.

Thank you. I've just booked him in to see the GP - won't be until next week which is a bugger, but at least he's being seen. Fingers crossed they don't just push the gaviscon route - I've seen so many people complain about it I just don't think I could knowingly add further constipation on top of reflux. Poor mite will be up the wall.

Glad he’s booked in!
I hope you manage to get something stronger for him!
In the mean time keep him up for 20 mins after a feed rubbing his back every so often to give time for his milk to settle!
Poor little thing silent reflux is awful!

No it won't.

Get the reflux sorted before the tongue tie. Posterior tongue tie is a bit of a controversial diagnosis anyway

@PinkCookie11 Thank you! He's had such a stressful start, I just can't wait to get something to help at least take the edge off for him. It's been one thing after the other! I think I might pop him in the sling - save my poor arms, as this will be a long night if today is anything to go by!

@DIshedUp Is it? I know there are two kinds and he certainly does have latch issues. Sliding down the nipple and getting very upset, loads of weight loss in the beginning. We've had to combi feed because of it, so I was hoping with a snip we might also be able to get that sorted out too.

Sling will be perfect!
Good luck for tonight! Plenty naps with him tomorrow if he manages to sleep!

My son had his TT cut a few weeks ago, he still vomits (he was on gaviscon before he had it cut anyway) but the gaviscon seems to have eased the discomfort. Might ask for something else soon at his next gp check.
One thing that did improve with his cut was his wind though, which probably didnt help the reflux. So I’m glad I had it done, apparently can cause weaning/speech issues later on anyway.
The lady that cut the TT said reflux is often caused by TT but Im yet to see proof of that!

@DIshedUp

No it won't.

Get the reflux sorted before the tongue tie. Posterior tongue tie is a bit of a controversial diagnosis anyway

Controversial in what way?

@PinkCookie11 He's asleep! Phew. DH has made me a lovely dinner...now to try and eat it with one hand. 😂 I think tomorrow I'm going back to basics and alternating between a day in bed with skin to skin and loads of walking around with him upright. Best get the snacks in!

@Piccalily19 I'm glad your DS is feeling better! It's really difficult isn't it? I suppose even if the TT being cut does ease his wind, that's a step in the right direction. He's always bringing his legs up like he needs to fart so I'm assuming that's wind!

Enjoy your dinner and have some chill time!
That sounds lovely enjoy your day with him ❤️

My little boy had quite bad reflux and wind pain, back arching, legs crunching up and grunting etc so much that it disrupted his sleep most nights.

We found out he had a thick posterior tongue tie - once we got it cut, it was instantly much better feeding latch and he's 100% better wind wise. Hope you get sorted

My DS had to stay on gaviscon after tongue tie division for reflux but it really really helped him and we wouldn't have coped without it. He had tongue tie division very early though as so severe.

Posterior tongue tie is controversial in that it's not an objective diagnosis - and there isn't much evidence it's responsible for feeding difficulties or that snipping will help:

www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m3928

This happened to me too OP - little boy diagnosed with posterior TT and recommended to snip. We decided to wait instead and his feeding has improved on its own over time. You'll hear everything blamed on the tie - reflux, colic, night waking... Just know that the snip may not do what you hope to resolve these issues.

The thing that helped us most was time, and some help with getting the latch better.

Thanks everyone! Seems people have had varied outcomes. I'm definitely not expecting magic but even if feeding or wind improves a little, I'm happy.

I can't read that bmj article unfortunately but I'm interested in why posterior isn't taken as seriously as anterior. From looking at DS's own tongue reach I can definitely see that it affects him...of course he may well grow out of it, but if it helps feeding now then I'm happy to give it a go!

It's all a bit of a minefield, isn't it?!

@TheGoldenApplesOfTheSun

Posterior tongue tie is controversial in that it's not an objective diagnosis - and there isn't much evidence it's responsible for feeding difficulties or that snipping will help:

www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m3928

This happened to me too OP - little boy diagnosed with posterior TT and recommended to snip. We decided to wait instead and his feeding has improved on its own over time. You'll hear everything blamed on the tie - reflux, colic, night waking... Just know that the snip may not do what you hope to resolve these issues.

The thing that helped us most was time, and some help with getting the latch better.

That's really interesting, thanks.

My own story is that my 3rd child wasn't gaining weight and my milk supply was diminishing (I could see my breasts shrinking daily). I had some trouble getting started with the first two, but I had a great supply and we got aligned within a few weeks.

Baby no. 3 seemed to only get milk during let down and their suck was completely ineffective. Took a lot of visits to LC at hospital before they would accept there was an issue (because supply initially was great and baby was clearly swallowing milk).

Referred to a public consultant who examined and advised cutting. In the meantime, I had been pumping every few hours to get my supply back (which worked) and bottle-feeding baby.
After the snip, baby was fully bf within a week.

These things are extremely difficult to diagnose because you can't see the mechanics of the latch. If it was my first baby, I would have thought I had a problem with bf myself.