Tongue Tie

Betts12 · June 2011

DS had his tongue tie corrected on Friday by having an ENT clip his frenulum. I expected BF to get easier over the last couple days as he now has free range of motion for his tongue. Sadly, this is not the case. BF is still as painful as before and I believe that it's starting to affect my bonding with DS as I dread BF.

Has anyone else been in this position? I would love to hear others' experiences and what you decided to do. I really want to be able to provide the nutritional benefits of breastmilk but can't endure much more pain. I worry about being able to pump enough and, yet, am also worried about unpredictable effects of formula (stomach issues, etc.).

Xles10 · June 2011

I had thR same thing happen to me. We had my LO's tongue clipped. I found that he was able to latch more easily, but sadly it still hurt. I decided to EP. I realized that in addition to the painful latch, I just didn't like nursing enough to work through it and call s LC to come out and help. I cannot tell you how much happier I am EPing. It's like night and day. Despite the extra clean up, it's just better for me. I no longer associate feeding him with pain, my husband helps with many of the feedings and I pump less frequently than he eats (I tend to have an over supply). Do what is best for you. If you keep nursing, definitely bring out a LC. I also looked into nipple shields, but I didn't think that would help since hid problem wasn't latching on, just that it was painful.

ConnCottager · June 2011

::lurker here:: Are your nipples at all cracked or bleeding? I allowed my nipples to heal for a weekend after having DD's tongue tie clipped and it made a world of difference. It was like someone flipped a switch and we were all of a sudden nursing pros. It hurt like hell after she was clipped and before I was healed - I truly believe I would have given up if I hadn't given myself that weekend.

StephDK · June 2011

Xles10:
I had thR same thing happen to me. We had my LO's tongue clipped. I found that he was able to latch more easily, but sadly it still hurt. I decided to EP. I realized that in addition to the painful latch, I just didn't like nursing enough to work through it and call s LC to come out and help. I cannot tell you how much happier I am EPing. It's like night and day. Despite the extra clean up, it's just better for me. I no longer associate feeding him with pain, my husband helps with many of the feedings and I pump less frequently than he eats (I tend to have an over supply). Do what is best for you. If you keep nursing, definitely bring out a LC. I also looked into nipple shields, but I didn't think that would help since hid problem wasn't latching on, just that it was painful.

This is almost me exactly. Except we used a nipple shield to begin with and even though c had his tongue clipped, he only started latching without the shield like 2 weeks. I ended up only nursing him like once a day because he took to long and the shield was annoying. I continued to pump and had to supplement and still do. Unfortunately, he hasnt nursed in like a week which makes me really sad because I am not emotionally ready to stop. Just remember though, formula is not poison. Certainly bm is best, but if you have to supplement it is okay to. Your baby has to eat.

Betts12 · June 2011

StephDK:
Xles10:
I had thR same thing happen to me. We had my LO's tongue clipped. I found that he was able to latch more easily, but sadly it still hurt. I decided to EP. I realized that in addition to the painful latch, I just didn't like nursing enough to work through it and call s LC to come out and help. I cannot tell you how much happier I am EPing. It's like night and day. Despite the extra clean up, it's just better for me. I no longer associate feeding him with pain, my husband helps with many of the feedings and I pump less frequently than he eats (I tend to have an over supply). Do what is best for you. If you keep nursing, definitely bring out a LC. I also looked into nipple shields, but I didn't think that would help since hid problem wasn't latching on, just that it was painful.
This is almost me exactly. Except we used a nipple shield to begin with and even though c had his tongue clipped, he only started latching without the shield like 2 weeks. I ended up only nursing him like once a day because he took to long and the shield was annoying. I continued to pump and had to supplement and still do. Unfortunately, he hasnt nursed in like a week which makes me really sad because I am not emotionally ready to stop. Just remember though, formula is not poison. Certainly bm is best, but if you have to supplement it is okay to. Your baby has to eat.

Thanks, this is all really helpful. I have such worry about my supply if I go to EP and also tremendous guilt about thinking about supplementing. But, I think I just need to get over it. The pain is too much. My nipples have been cracked, bleeding and sore since the beginning. The LC I met with last week said that I really need to watch DS's tongue before I let him latch on. Easier said than done for a hungry baby. This has been so hard! Thanks again.

AmyRI · June 2011

I also dreaded breastfeeding. DS had his tongue clipped at 5 days old... and honestly, it didn't get better until he hit 3 weeks. I agree with PPs - just pump and let your nipples heal. I also found it useful to stick my finger upside down into his mouth and let him suck. He slowly figured out to move his tongue more. He honestly didn't move it any better at first. The other thing I needed to do was pull his chin down away from my finger (or nipple) because he had started compensating for his lack of suction with his tongue my compressing my nipple with his jaw.

I would also try another LC. I've been to 2, and they just have very different styles. Only one of them was helpful for my DS. But, her help in positioning for a good latch was invaluable, and even though it didn't pay off right away, it did pay off.

Take a break if you need to, or only nurse a few times a day (which is what I was doing in the beginning. I needed to put the lanolin oil on my nipples and let it sit for a few hours before nursing him again to keep them from cracking and blistering). He's now 6 weeks old and doing great. For us, it got better.

GoBadgers · June 2011

YES!!!!!!! I was in your position with my older daughter. It was soooo emotionally painful. I hated the first two months of her life. I didn't know why it wasn't instantly better after the clipping at 2 weeks... At 4 weeks she was still below birth weight. I started using an SNS to work on my supply (which obviously tanked due to the tongue tie) and supplemented more (obviously had to supplement prior to the first tongue tie clipping).. and had to supplement again starting at 4 weeks when I had her weighed. We saw 8 LCs and 1 pediatric speech pathologst... the 9th LC realized that she was STILL TONGUE TIED. Went back to ENT and said that LC said she was still tongue tied. So he agreed to clip it "better" but wanted to do it in the hospital under anestesia (sp?) We had this done at 8 weeks. After the second clipping, like magic all was great. It was either that he didnt clip enough the first time OR scar tissue built up. I suggest you look for second opinions. You could call your local LLL to ask for advice on who to get second, third fourth, (ninth?) opinions from:)

I'm so sorry you are going through this. I know after introducing the SNS and having to pump after ever feeding, I was determined I never wanted to EP because I thought that would be so much harder. At the time, breastfeeding was sooo hard though and it was so hard not knowing there was a problem...and then to try to figure out what the problem was...

Is your supply okay at the moment? I would really make sure you are trying to protect your supply until you figure out the problem.

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