Tongue tie and breastfeeding

[kumber]

For those of you whose bubbas had a tongue tie cut while you were bfing, how soon did you notice a difference in baby's latch? Did you notice a difference in how much wind baby had after the procedure?

We have an appointment in a fortnight for cutting his posterior tongue tie, and my nipples and areolas are feeling very bruised. We've had our latch checked and it's as good as we can make it with the tie, so I'm hoping that pain will go once it's cut? He's also constantly full of wind, I can hear his gulping it down during feeds, will that stop or at least improve once his tongue is snipped?

 

[candymycandy]

Hiya Kumber, I've not personally had experience but didn't want to read and run.

My friend's DD had her posterior TT done at around 8 weeks. Previously her nipples were in an awful state and she was in constant pain. Had the procedure and while baby still has a more shallow latch than normal she feeds much better than before. Think she still struggles with wind but does have reflux anyway. Fx for your lb. shame you have to wait so long for it! Xx

 

[kumber]

Thanks lovely, that's still helpful. I don't mind the wait too much as he is only 2 weeks atm so he won't be very old when he gets it cut. Just need to power through.

 

[Rachel82]

It should definitely help Kumber. DD was born with a tongue tie. Unfortunately because of a mess up by the hospital we didn't get an appointment until she was over 3 weeks old. She had absolutely no latch beforehand. At the appointment they could only make a very small cut because the tie was quite thick and they were worried about bleeding. She was then able to latch but we couldn't really get into breastfeeding because her latch still wasn't great, plus she was used to bottles by that point, would suck down a lot of wind and had reflux so it was difficult to find a position where she wouldn't just vomit back all the milk.
You've managed to breastfeed with the tie though, so I can only imagine things getting better after the cut.

 

[kumber]

I hope so, thanks Rachel. DS2 had it as well and I had to feed him until 10 months with it as he wasn't diagnosed until 5 months. It was horrendous so I'm really hoping I don't have to go through that again. Really don't want to switch to bottles so hopefully cutting the tie will work and we can have a proper breastfeeding journey

 

[Rachel82]

I can understand that. It took me a while to come to terms with the fact that breastfeeding just wasn't going to happen for us. Harper is 4 months old tomorrow and I managed to express at least some of her feeds up until last week, so I'm pleased she got some milk from me. Hope it all works out for you so you can continue breastfeeding more comfortably.

 

[kumber]

It's definitely hard coming to terms with it, I've had so many wobbles in the last couple of weeks. I just want to give up and not be in pain, or have him be in pain. He's spent the last 3 days screaming on and off because he's so full of wind. Just want to cry proper baby tears right now

 

[Blueclass]

I cant remember how soon i noticed but you will need to do excerises with your baby every 3 or 4 hrs for a week. I went private and the mw came rhe next day. My nipples was ruined and i couldnt wait. I paid £140. If you can affored it do it sooner as your nipples will get worse x

 

[kumber]

I'm debating over going private, these last few days have been horrific. He's spent 3 out of 4 nights screaming in pain from wind, I made the decision to switch to bottles on payday. This morning I don't know what to do

 

[BunnyN]

DS had his lip and tongue done at 4 months old. I noticed a slight improvement the same day. Over the next couple of weeks he continued to improve a bit. On the whole I'd say things got about 30% better altogether so not a total cure but it made all the difference to me as I was at the point of wanting to give up breastfeeding. I just wished we'd got it clipped earlier. We did do it with DS 2 earlier but I didnt have as many problems with him feeding we did it more because he visably looked like he had tongue tie. Intrestingly DS 1 didnt look like he had tongue tie at first glance. I think it may have been the lip that made the biggest difference.

 

[kumber]

I've just booked a private appointment for Thursday. Both me and hubby are living off 3 hours sleep, and with 2 toddlers at home and him working a mentally intensive job, it's just not safe or sensible to wait another 2 weeks. At the moment I'm housebound as I can't latch him on without mounds of pillows and a rugby ball latch. God I hope it makes a difference soon

 

[Browneyed Girl]

It depends on baby how long it takes them to learn how to use their new tongue properly after its snipped. It can be a couple of days or a couple of weeks. Both of mine had tt. My youngest had his done on the NHS at birth but they missed most of it so I went private at 3 weeks old and had it done properly. You do have to do exercises to prevent reattachment (NHS said this isn't possible!). My youngest took a long time (about 2 months) to start feeding properly after it was cut as if kept tightening up and that was bottle feeding which is supposed to be ok with tt! The gulping of wind will only resolve once they can create a proper seal.

If you do switch to bottles don't use ones with a wide test e.g. Tommee Tippee as a tt baby can't open their mouth wide enough for these x

 

[kumber]

Thank you, that's really helpful. I didn't know about the exercises so will make sure we do them. I'm hoping we won't need to switch to bottles but we will definitely be avoiding Tommee Tippee if we do switch, thanks for the tip.

 

[BunnyN]

DS1 had awful problems with wind too. I decided in the end it was a combo of swallowing air and gassy digestion. It also seemed to bother him a lot. DS2 also swallowed a lot of air but he didnt seem to have a problem getting rid of it (one way or another ) and it didnt seem to overly bother him. DS! would get into a cycle of feeding to ease his tummy ache which helped for a few mins but in the long run made it worse because he swallowd more air and had to digest the milk. After a few mins he would feed again to ease it. Eventually he would just end up with gass and reflux and be screaming non stop which of course meant he was swollowing more air. After a while I discovered giving him a little bit of water in a bottle seemed to help break that cycle.

I really hope you manage to find a solution. I know how it can turn you insane and desperate. Especially when you are dealing with a newborn and toddlers. I was a pretty determined breastfeeder and I think I might have given up if I didnt also know DS had cows milk allergy so I felt trapped. I think the worst thing for me was that I found feeding uncomfortablee, not actually painful but very unpleasant which is hard to deal with when you are short on sleep and pretty overwhelmed and frazzled in general. I was really glad I made it through and didnt have to give up breastfeeding but I have much more respect for those who have tried and decide its not working out. However it ends up you can be proud of doing your best.

 

[kumber]

Thank you lovely. I'm determined not to give up on bfing, I fed through tongue tie with DS2, it was 10 agonising months of feeding every 2 hours but I did it. I ended up in therapy with trauma but I got through it. Ideally would not like this to happen again but at least I know I can do it if I need to. Just need to keep everything crossed that cutting it at 3 weeks old will make it easier for him to latch and get the vacuum around the nipple

 

[BunnyN]

Its one of those things that is different for everyone. It is a miracle cure for some. Most likely result iseems to be significant improvement but not perfect. Honestly the modest improvement for us was fine with me because it was enough to make the difference. We were very late doing it because we kept being told he didnt have a problem. I think you do well going private because as well as your sanity the results are definately time sensitive.

 

[kumber]

Sanity is definitely a factor. My bond with DS2 was absolutely destroyed thanks to tongue tie, I ended up resenting him and we took a long time to get back on track with each other. That bond is priceless so I will pay anything to make sure I don't go through that with a baby again

 

[kumber]

We got it done this afternoon and he hasn't stopped screaming since he got home. I've had to get hubby back from work to help me with him. I feel like sobbing, this is not what I expected. I thought it wouldn't hurt him and it very clearly is

 

[Rachel82]

Oh poor little thing. Is he ok now Kumber?

 

[kumber]

He managed to calm down and has had a slightly better night, so that's good. We're fast running out of steam after a week of horrendous nights, but he's taking down a heck of a lot less wind already so will hopefully mean he'll sleep much better from here on. Still feel like the world's worst mummy, hoping he's not as upset today.