Should we get tongue tie cut?

[Moonshine160]

DS is 12 weeks old and has reflux type symptoms since birth and always had a shallow latch. He has also been a really gassy baby from taking in air when feeding. He is breastfed. Reflux medication didn’t really help. He has always fussed at the breast, latching on and off. We were told by the midwife, GP and health visitor that he doesn’t have a tongue tie, but they never seemed to properly look or feel in his mouth. I still wasn’t convinced so paid to see a lactation consultant who is also a tongue tie practitioner who confirmed that he has a posterior tongue tie.

We are booked in to have the tongue tie released on Tuesday, it’s going to cost £120 so not too much but also not ideal right before Christmas. Over the last couple of weeks his feeding has significantly improved and he is less gassy. His latch is still quite shallow and we still have some breast fussiness. The consultant told us that the tie is only a subtle one and she can’t guarantee that that’s what’s causing the fussiness and his latch may still be shallow if it’s released.

I have until 11am tomorrow to cancel the appointment without losing my 50% deposit. Is it worth having it done? I don’t want to cause him any pain or discomfort unnecessarily if it might not actually make any difference at all.

Thank you for all your advice. We got the tongue tie released this morning :)

He’s had a couple of feeds since and unfortunately it still feels the same as before - lots of fussing and a shallow latch. She said that he also has a high palette which can make feeding tricky.

Pleased to hear this. See how it goes, it can take time for dc to re-adjust. but if you aren't happy go back, because ds2's wasn't cut properly locally and I had to go to London to have the tongue tie cut again, for a 2nd time.

We had a very subtle tie - GP and midwife didn’t pick it up. We didn’t bother and he was fine, eats like a horse now, no problems weaning or drinking. Ours was very subtle though and we were also advised it might not make a difference to the latch.

Yes

My DD also had a posterior tongue tie and high palette. We were told it can take a few weeks for them to relearn how to use their tongue muscle and unlearn the bad feeding habits. In our case her latch did improve after a week or two but I hadn’t managed to keep supply up with pumping so still had problems and didn’t end up BF for long. Might be worth following up with a lactation consultant to try to improve the latch.

Glad you got it done.
The 48 hours after DS1s tie was cut were horrific, and the closest we got to switching to formula. Then it was like he worked it out, and we fed til after his birthday.

Still got DS2's cut as soon as we could (not nearly as severe).

We had to fight to get DS's done at 5 weeks - he wasn't feeding well and was losing weight. Lovely lactation consultant at the weigh and play session picked up on it and told me to go straight away to the docs and get an emergency appointment - I don't know how we managed to get an appointment with the surgeon at the hospital to untie it but somehow we did. They ummmmmed and errrrd about it, told me they didn't think it would make a huge amount of difference but eventually did it. (took them longer to debate then actual procedure which was just a sterile pair of scissors!) He latched on straight away and fed really well straight away! It was such a relief after 5 weeks of constant feeding and crying.
do it.

I'm glad things seem to be working out for the OP. For a bit of balance, I had DD2's tongue tie cut and I regret it bitterly. It was traumatic and made not a jot of difference to anything. DD1 and I both have tongue tie and manage life perfectly well.

We had the same decision to make but at a later point. It was very hard. I have a tongue tie myself but the bit of skin forming the tie is very flexible and has not posed any issues for me. A lactation consultant recommended buying an o-ball for baby to chew and try to stick his tongue through and within a week he had stretched his tie enough to be able to stick his tongue out. We didn’t subject him to the surgery.

Thanks everyone. Sounds like there’s hope that over the next couple of weeks things still might improve! Will keep trying, dont want to give up with breastfeeding just yet.

Were you given oral exercises to do to help train the tongue as they don't suddenly learn to use it immediately. Hopefully it was a decent tongue tie practitioner who didn't just cut it without giving you any exercises but if it they didn't then Gentle Births and Beyond on Instagram and Courtney Feeds have lots of easy exercises to do a few times a day.

I know you don't have social media but should be able to access their instagram through google

@MrNook I wasn’t unfortunately. She is reputable and has great reviews, and during the initial appointment when she found the tongue tie she was brilliant, but today she seemed rushed. She released the tongue tie, gave me an information sheet and that was it. I will look at Instagram for the exercises, thank you.

I really recommend seeing an osteopath if you can. Ours helped with tongue exercises and also the high pallet. It took about a week post tongue tie division for DS's latch to improve. Hope yours does too!

@Moonshine160 Can I ask how your baby is getting on now that a bit more time has passed? My daughter is suspected to have a tongue tie (she’s being assessed on Friday) and want to know what to expect. Thanks in advance!

Absolutely do it. Acquaintances of ours didn’t find out that this was the cause of their kid’s muteness until he was nearly ten. Everyone thought he had intellectual problems. He’s now in his 20’s and a highly-achieving academic.

How are things now @Moonshine160?

I am in the exact same boat as you. Was going to wait for nhs appt but the waiting list is very very long. I would rather pay, can I ask are you in London ? Because I cannot seem to find a lactation specialist in my area that also specialises in ties

best of luck with your lil one. Hope things improved! Xx

Approved specialists at this link here: www.tongue-tie.org.uk/find-a-practitioner/

The nhs page on tongue ties took us to this link and that's where we found our practitioner.

@Fraaahnces the more I’m hearing about missed tongue ties the less sense it’s making you me that child healthcare professionals don’t get properly trained in recognising them. My daughter is exhibiting almost all of the telltale signs of a tongue tie but hasn’t once been properly examined for one despite having been in and out of the A&E for weight loss/ poor weight gain. Doctors just take a quick look in her mouth without touching her tongue at all before ruling it out. It’s absolutely shocking to me why training for this isn’t essential with how common it is. Looking more into things I’m almost positive my daughter has a posterior TT.

This was pretty much the story with mine, ended up being cut at 13 weeks in private clinic because of the misdiagnosis of the tie and constant feeding issues.

it was definitely worth doing and helped though it took a while for her to relearn how to feed differently.

ill be honest though it wasn’t a magic solution. We continued to have issues anyway but it certainly made enough difference that I’d make the same decision over again

*Hers was also considered minor and not worth cutting. Was actually told to try cranial osteopathy first - what an utter joke that was, furious I listened and didn’t just get it cut at 8 weeks when we initially went private

My DC1 had a terrible shallow latch - so painful and he never got enough milk out. But because he could poke out (the tip of) his tongue, the HV said he wasn't tongue-tied. He was falling behind his centile after a couple of weeks, and kept dropping back until I began mixed feeding. Even with the help of a lactation consultant we could never improve his latch enough to drop the formula.
My DC2 OTOH latched perfectly from day 1.
And now as children, there is a clear difference in the shape of their tongues when they poke them out: DC1 has a slight depression near the tip. I suspect he had a tongue tie that was never diagnosed.

@MrNook did your baby need a general anaesthetic to have the tongue tie divided at 11 months old?

@Moonshine160 appreciate this was a long time ago now but how did you get on ? In the same boat as you with 12w old trying to decide if to do it, lots of wind issues over here!

@Peanutbutterislife Hi! We went ahead and had it cut but I can’t say we noticed much of a difference tbh. The wind/reflux etc gradually got better but I feel like that was because he was getting older rather than because the tongue tie was cut. If the wind is quite bad though then it’s worth a try. The procedure was ok and the crying was minimal