Posterior tongue tie - when will it improve?

[CordyD]

Hi everyone, 5 days ago we had our DD posterior tongue tie divided when she was 3 weeks old. We had all the classic symptoms of tongue tie and when we were finally seen it was diagnosed as quite severe. I'd had bleeding nipples and we were/ still using nipple shields to help with the pain. Since the division her tongue is now moving over her bottom gum and the pain has gone but we are still feeding for over an hour and then having to do large top ups of formula or expressed milk. It can be around 100ml. So what is she doing at the breast for an hour!?! I am hoping and praying it gets easier as I'm not ready to give up breastfeeding yet. Please tell me it will improve...

Hi there, sorry to read of your troubles. We had a similar set of problems, most of which were resolved by the division of my babys tongue tie. However we are still using nipple shields at 12 weeks, baby never wanted to latch fully but gets big feeds regardless and I am happy we've managed to keep it up this long.
A few thoughts:

• seeing a lactation consultant after the procedure really helped. I've heard an osteopath (private or nhs) can also help with extra exercises (in addition to the standard ones such as getting baby to mimic sticking out tongue etc).
• your baby might be going through the 3 week growth spurt, some babies just need extra feeds for a few days or a week
• your supply could be a little low, due to her tongue tie, so she is actually feeding well but wants more. Can you try pumping/power pumping, eating oats and flax etc? It will hopefully regulate. Pumping is also a good idea if using nipple shields as baby can't always drain full breast.
• if all else fails get her tongue checked again as it may have not been fully successful.

Sending you good breast feeding luck!

Hi OP, my DS also had posterior tongue tie. I have been FF from the start and had tried alsorts of different bottles and teats etc before he was diagnosed with it. They do say it could take upto 2 weeks to see an improvement in latching on etc as they are getting used to the new found freedom of the tongue. They said to me that when he has it snipped he will have to get used to having so much movement in his tongue. Also the tongue could be sore for awhile. It does get better... hang on in there! Xx

Thanks so much for the reassurance. Her latch seems to be getting better. We are still using nipple shields most of the time.
We are seeing an osteopath at the end of the month as she has alot of tension in her jaw and neck and shoulders.
It just seems like a long process.

@CordyD my little girl had a posterior tie and it left her with a high roof of her mouth. Once snipped they said there was a chance feeding wouldn't get better because of that. If you haven't already, have a look on YouTube at the Koala hold for feeding. It was the only one that worked for us when she was small, we are still breastfeeding at 18 months old

I was similar with my little one, it will get better but it could take a month or two of persistence and a lot of good support from an IBCLC. She is 4 months old now and flying it but i still pump and top her up a bit - 90% of what she gets is at the breast vs about 10% at 3 weeks of age. So glad i persisted as it's all so much easier now!

Are you putting on the nipple shields correctly?

I used nipple shields with my DS because he wasn’t latching (I still use them now at 7 months). At first he would feed for an hour and still be hungry. It turned out that I hadn’t put them on correctly.

With my DS breast compressions often helped when he was fussy at the breast, although sometimes they’d cause him to gag and splutter so some trial and error is required.

Things will get easier. My DS never had his tie cut but as he got older feeding became much quicker and easier and I could stop topping up with expressed milk. He still insists on the side-lying position though.

Yes we had a go at the koala hold but she was too distressed at the time and her head a bit too wobbly but I'm keen to have another go.

@seaborgium are there any nipple shields you recommend? I am currently using mam ones but find the plastic nipple part so tall for her to get in her mouth and get a good latch.

@CordyD

Yes we had a go at the koala hold but she was too distressed at the time and her head a bit too wobbly but I'm keen to have another go.

It definitely gets easier as they get older, they are so wobbly and tiny at first in this hold, maybe get her latched in that way and then lean back to be more reclined?

@CordyD I used the Boots ones but they also seemed ‘too big for his mouth’ when he was a newborn. Once his mouth had grown bigger it was much easier for him.

I would also recommend seeing a lactation consultant. My DC's posterior tongue tie was divided but unfortunately reattached. Luckily for us the private midwife snipped it again for free and on a bank holiday weekend too. We had no problems after that.