Tongue Tie PSA

Everyusernameistaken · September 2014

Hi ladies! I thought I would post this here because it has had such an impact on my bfing success with both of my sons.
If you are having trouble /pain BFing, or LO can't latch or get his tongue in the right spot, have your LC or Dr look for a tongue or lip tie ASAP. With baby #1 I BFd with a tongue tie for a week and caused lots of damage; with baby 2 they caught it right away and it has made a huge difference! It's s very simple procedure (my Dr did it in office for #1 and the Dr who delivered #2 did it in hospital) and neither boy made much of a fuss about it.
So just wanted to put it out there as a possible reason for latch troubles and pain. Don't suffer in silence!

jortiz780 · September 2014

I'll seconded this as well. A coworker of mine was having lots of issues BF-ing her son. Her nipples were bleeding and she was in lots of pain. After a few months of seeing several doctors and LCs, they finally figured out he had a tongue tie. Their doctor fixed it and they didn't have any more issues BF-ing.

pshaortao · September 2014

I agree, I had heard about tongue tie on another forum before LO was born so I did some reading about it and looked a bunch of photos. As soon she was placed on my chest post delivery, I was able to recognize right off the bat that she had a minor tongue tie. The tip of her tongue was heart shaped instead of round, plus she couldn't stick her tongue out past her lips. The nurses/ped kept saying she didn't have one but I wouldn't let up. Not even 24 hours later, my nipples were already cracked/bleeding. They finally did a closer observation on the second day and agreed that she did indeed have a minor tie. The procedure was very brief, my DH commented that he was surprised how simple it was. I think she only cried out of fussiness, not from the snipping. They had her latch on me immediately after and I could already feel a difference!

Ciardasully · September 2014

Thanks for this PSA. I belong to a FB group from my wedding month and it seems like a lot of babies have had this and I had never heard of it until then. It seems to be a common occurence.

mrsH1112 · September 2014

Great PSA. I talked to the LC at my hospital about this during my breastfeeding class. Myself, my twin sister and her daughter are all tounge tied/lip tied. My sisters daugther would never take the breast, she just had all types of issues with latching etc and my sister ended up EP. The LC said that they will check for it when my son is born if I ask them to.

Im worried they will blow me off about it. She said not to feel bad if I ask multiple people (the nurse, the LC, the baby's pediatrician, my OB) about it if I really am concerned. Like the other posters mentioned the clipping of it seems fairly painless and supposedly it can either be done right there in the hosptial or they will recommend a pediatric ENT to do it the week after the baby is born.

cls0602 · October 2014

So happy I found this post! My son was born yesterday tongue tied. We've had a crazy 24 hours trying to breast feed, especially because I also learned I have flat nipples! Not exactly a breast feeding match made in heaven but we've been using nipple shields. I'm thankful to have read this because everyone is kind of making it seem like he doesn't need it snipped, and we think we should. We are seeing the pediatrician this AM!

juneybooney · October 2014

normally i just lurk, but if your baby has a lip or tongue tie or if you think your baby might, there is a great group on facebook -tongue tie babies support group.

even if your baby is gaining weight well, if you are having pain, bad latch, can't get baby's upper lip to flange out, constant nursing, lots of night wakings (past a few months), thrush/mastitis/plugged ducts, get it checked out. my first daughter stopped gaining weight at 5 months bc she was lip tied, and my oversupply regulated down to basically nothing... unfortunately many people, even lactation consultants, can't properly diagnose a lip or tongue tie (none of the people we saw noticed my DDs) - check the facebook group for recommendations about people that can!

Everyusernameistaken · October 2014

cls0602 said:
So happy I found this post! My son was born yesterday tongue tied. We've had a crazy 24 hours trying to breast feed, especially because I also learned I have flat nipples! Not exactly a breast feeding match made in heaven but we've been using nipple shields. I'm thankful to have read this because everyone is kind of making it seem like he doesn't need it snipped, and we think we should. We are seeing the pediatrician this AM!

So glad it helped!! I also dealt with flat nipples, nipple shields and tongue tie-- it was rough at first but we went onto nurse for 19 months so there's hope! Very best of luck. We're here if you need support

Soogerplum · October 2014

My LO is getting hers clipped today! I'm so nervous but so relieved to have it corrected because we've had such bad latch issues. I could not make anyone take it seriously until I contacted an ENT. It seems as though everyone shrugs it off as no big deal.

Soogerplum · October 2014

For those of you who's LO had theirs clipped...did you end up doing stretching exercises? The ENT who did DD's never mentioned needing to do this but he did say that occasionally they would reattach. He said in the event of that happening, we could have it clipped again.

Also...I wanted to add that the first 2 days after having hers clipped, latching was difficult and she was still very frustrated. Now she is latching much much better though and I imagine it will probably continue to improve which is a HUGE relief!

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