Posterior tongue tie - worth it, traumatic?

[Newmum187]

My little one (3 weeks old) has a posterior tongue tie. Confirmed by midwife and GP. Getting it assessed to be cut on Saturday but I’m so scared it will hurt her and she will be in pain for several days. She is breastfeeding and feeds well, never dropped her birth weight and is gaining well.

also struggling to know if her symptoms are due to the tie or just her, and don’t want to mess with her when she’s fine!?

Symptoms are

• really long cluster feeds leading to her always being overtired
• lots of pain with latch unless it’s perfect
• falling off the boob
• sucking blister on her top lip
• hiccups / reflux

would love some experiences etc

My first DD had a posterior tongue tie and had it snipped - she screamed for a few seconds until I held her to the breast, she latched on, and I could feel a difference straight away. Feeding continued to improve from that point on. I don't think it caused any lasting pain and I would have done it again should a tongue tie have been an issue with our second.

My little boy had a tongue tie that was snipped at 4 weeks old. It was affecting his feeds and he lost some weight so was 100% right for us. He screamed for a few seconds until he was back in my arms and breastfed straight away and was absolutely fine afterwards

My DS had his posterior TT cut at 3 weeks and it didn't seem to bother him at all, just when the consultant held his tongue to complete the procedure. Took a while to see the benefit to be honest

Both my children have had tongue ties and had them cut as soon as possible. I think with the symptoms you've described you may find breastfeeding difficult to continue long term unless it improves. In my opinion it's definitely worth it, the area that's cut has no nerves in it at this age so they may have a bit of a cry as it's done but you put them on the boob straight away and they calm pretty quickly. The risks of the procedure are very low and I didn't feel that either of mine were in any pain following it. If it causes problems down the line when you start weaning onto solids and it causes issues with tongue movement and eating or speech issues, they would need a general anaesthetic to have the procedure done after the age of six months or something like that.

My DS had a posterior tongue tie cut at 10 days as it was affecting his feeding and weight gain quite significantly. He slept through the procedure!

Feeding improved steadily after it was done and he's now gaining weight beautifully. That said, we still have some issues at 6 weeks due to high palate affecting his latch, so he's still somewhat gulpy/gassy/hiccupy.

Despite this I don't regret having it done, I don't think we'd still be breastfeeding if we hadn't.

My daughter had posterior tongue tie, and had similar problems to you with breastfeeding. She had it snipped at 6 weeks old, cried, went straight on the breast and was completely fine after that. Breastfeeding improved over time, although it was not immediately better as they sort of have to learn to do it again.

Another thing to maybe bear in mind- I think I have posterior tongue tie too which wasn't snipped and I have chronic jaw problems. I have read that tongue tie, posterior and anterior, can cause issues in later life to do with jaw, posture, neck etc. it's all connnected. So I would really recommend you do it.

It sounds as though having it snipped would be best for you and your baby. Both my cousin and I had babies with tongue ties. Her baby's was snipped due to breastfeeding issues. My son was feeding really well, despite midwife saying 'that's a doozy of a tongue tie'😆, so decision was made not to snip it and everything was fine. I discovered about a month later that I have a tongue tie myself and had no idea. I can't stick my tongue out very far, but it's all I've ever known!