Relearning latch after fixing tongue-tie

missisue · August 2011

I'd love to hear from any mamas of babies who have had a frenectomy (tongue-tie surgery). My almost 7-week-old was just diagnosed with tongue tie and we are getting it fixed on Tuesday. She's never been able to latch for more than a few sucks, but she's learned to compensate and has actually thrived so far thanks to my oversupply.

I have no idea what to expect after the surgery. They say she'll be able to nurse right away and that I'll notice a marked improvemetn, but I'm afraid the re-learning process will be hard since she's figured out her own system so far. Any stories of mamas who have been there would be appreciated!

erinlovesdavid · August 2011

My LO wasn't quite as old as yours is (he was about 4 weeks when he had the procedure done), but I really didn't notice much of a learning curve after his tongue tie was fixed. They had me nurse him then and there in the office within minutes of the procedure, and let me tell you--that first latch-on was pure heaven. His latch had been so shallow and tight, and now it is nice and wide and so much more comfortable. GL, you'll be so glad you did it!

AmyRI · August 2011

If there is a difference right away, it will be a marked improvement. It won't get worse. My DS was compensating by using his jaw too much, which pinched me. When we had him snipped, he started moving his tongue better and could suck more efficiently - but it took 2 weeks to get him to stop using his jaw along with it. I found that holding his chin open while he was sucking helped him realize that he didn't need to move his jaw, just the tongue. We did see an LC a few days after having him clipped and it was very helpful to have someone making sure the initial latch was good, and that basically stuffed his mouth full of boob so it was harder for him to pinch me.

Wilwarin · August 2011

missisue:
I have no idea what to expect after the surgery. They say she'll be able to nurse right away and that I'll notice a marked improvemetn, but I'm afraid the re-learning process will be hard since she's figured out her own system so far. Any stories of mamas who have been there would be appreciated!

We had my son's corrected when he was 1-2 weeks old. It was quick and he barely cried. I noticed absolutely no difference in his latch. He didn't really "get" breastfeeding until he was 6-10 weeks old. I was told by the doctor that sometimes it helps and sometimes not. We got it done because I was willing to try anything to improve the latch, and to rule out any problems with speech later.

Cali1012 · August 2011

We had my DD's tongue-tie fixed on Day 4. She didn't even cry and I was sooo happy we fixed it. I did notice that my DD had to relearn her latch, even though she was so young. She had spent so much time at the breast being ineffective, that we had to do tongue exercises with her to teach her to use her tongue with the latch. We switched bottles to Playtex drop ins with the latex nipple (slow flow) - since the soft nipple teaches her to use her tongue to get the milk out. Also, we played games with her - stuck our tongues out, we would say, "where's your tongue?" and have her stick her tongue out, then we would praise her, all smiles, etc. We also used a soothie pacifier and would play "tug of war" with her to help her use her tongue more. All these were items suggested to us by a LC, and they worked. By doing these exercises for a week, she ended up latching perfectly. Bf is a whole new experience and it's so much better since fixing the tongue tie.

KiKiGee · August 2011

I had DS clipped at 3 weeks old and there was immediate improvement... everything corrected itself almost immediately. If he had to relearn anything it happened extremely quickly. Hopefully it will be a snap for you too!

Relearning latch after fixing tongue-tie

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