Lip Tie

MrsN092714

I EBF my boy and he is thriving!  At his 3 month appointment he weighed 17.6 pounds, however the more I had read the more I thought he had a lip tie and our Dr confirmed it.  (Just lip, no tongue tie)  His top lip folds inwards instead of flaring out which I think is causing a shallow latch as he often slips off.  I am not in pain while feeding but do think it would be more comfortable with a deeper latch, but am overall happy with how it is going. Obviously he is getting enough to eat so I am just wondering if anyone has either opted out of getting it corrected and continued a successful breastfeeding relationship OR had it done around this age or later.  I am thinking of making an appointment with a lactation consultant soon to discuss this but thought I'd throw it out for your opionions/ experience first.  My boy has been through a lot in his short little life and I just feel so bad putting him through any more than I have to, however if it is something that needs to be dealt with I'd much rather do it sooner than later...

zetlopez

I don't have experience with lip tie or this age but my ds had a tongue tie. It was impacting our breast feeding so we had it corrected at 2 weeks. One thing the doctor told us was that it was good that we decided to correct it while he was still a baby bc it could impact his speech. I'd think a lip tie could do that as well so it's a good question to ask the doctor. If it won't effect speech and he's thriving I probably wouldn't if it was my lo.

lindsay897

Breastfeeding was extremely difficult and painful for me. The lactation nurses at the hospital, the Pediatrician and the lactation counselor I met with all told me LO did not have a tounge tie. I didn't want to give up so I hired the top lactation consultant in our state. She said he did have a tie and recommended I see a dentist. At the same time I found out I had raynauds phenomenon which was causing a lot of pain on top of the lip and tounge tie. it took 3 weeks to get in to see the dentist and by that time I could no longer take the pain and stopped breastfeeding. At the recommendation of the dentist, I went ahead and had the lip and tounge tie fixed in case he might have eating or speech problems later on. It was hard to watch LO get the lip and tounge to fixed and it made me cry. I can't say whether or not it was a good idea since I didn't continue to breastfeed and I don't know if he would of had problems in the future. 

janeedem

My son was lip tied and it caused immense pain every time I breastfed him. We opted to get it fix when he was about 7 weeks old. We ultimately made that decision because of the potential neurological and developmental benefits of doing so. It also decreases the amount of gas they have because it improves their latch. He was in some pain for a few days, but it didn't seem to be horrible. Breastfeeding is now pain free and he appears to be a happier baby. 

cbolton19

We got our LO's lip tie fixed around 9-10 weeks. She was gaining and eating enough but was getting a kind of shallow latch and a lot of air. It made her so gassy and spitting up a lot. Since getting it fixed, she has been so much more comfortable. I still have to flip her upper lip occasionally, but her latch looks amazing now and she rarely gets a shallow latch now. It has helped me too. I wasn't always in pain but sometime I would be before we had it fixed. She had a class 4 tie so I think this will help her in the long run too. 

Rachel623

My toddler has a terrible lip tie but she wasn't diagnosed until 9 months. By then we had figured out breastfeeding so her pediatrician said we didn't need to correct it. 

Now that she is going to the dentist, he said she will likely need to get it corrected. I'm so upset because I would way rather do that to a baby who won't remember.  My youngest had one too and we got it corrected at 2 weeks. She cried for three minutes and it was over. 

If you're ever getting it done, I suggest doing it now. 

WeddingNotes13

We opted not to have our son's corrected yet because he eats fine and there is not enough research     to prove other long term benefits. We did consult with a dentist that does revisions. I found that LCs seem quite pushy about doing the procedure. I did not want to deal with the lack of pain meds during the procedure or the difficulty of the stretches if there would not be guaranteed results.