Exaggerated latch/flipple tips

[IchigoMewMew]

wondering if anyone has any tips for achieving this, the lactation consultant has said to try for a week and see her again as i'm getting a lot of nipple pain and blanching. DD has a tongue tie and deep palate but they want to do frenulotomy(?) as a last resort. I feel like i need an extra arm to position my nipple and dd at the same time or she drops her head forwards into my boob instead of lifting it back. She also doesn't open her mouth very wide unless she's crying or yawning

 

[noon_child]

Is the desire to wait for the tongue tie snip till later coming from yourself or from health professionals? I understand no-one wants to put a child through unnecessary procedures but this sounds necessary and days and days of on going pain needs to be balanced against a minute of pain and then (hopefully) effective feeding for your LO.

Regarding the latching. It may be that when she's dropping her head in to your boob she isn't ready to latch yet she's just stimulating your letdown with some pummeling head butting and massaging. She may also be locating the nipple by seeing where it is on her cheek/face when she does this. Remember babies aren't expecting to be held in the exact right feeding position, they have reflexes to allow them to find and move to the nipple on their own, but often these can frustrate us when we just want them to 'get on with it' and feed! Have you tried laid back breastfeeding and allowing LO to lie on top of you while you are reclined? This often produces a deep latch, allows LO to use their reflexes rather than fight you, and has the advantage that you don't seem to need three arms as LOs weight is mostlysupported by your body. It can be tricky to get a comfy position at first but might be worth trying.

Re the flipple. I never managed this successfully but the hamburger hold was quite effective. This is where you squash the breast tissue (as if LO was eating a hamburger that was too tall for her to get her mouth around). Once LO is on you can gently release the burger shape.

Doesn't really matter how deep your latch is if LO can't move her tongue properly though...

 

[IchigoMewMew]

Thanks it's the lactation consultant who wants to wait and try different positions but it only feels like the latch is slightly deeper so still quite sore. i would rather have it sorted now because my nephews tongue tie wasn't picked up until he had speech issues (+ sil had long given up bf because it wasn't working) he had to have general anaesthetic + is autistic.....
DD did manage quite a deep latch earlier but then she adjusted it so it was more shallow. sounded like she was struggling to swallow. i'll try laying back a bit more and see if that helps. Would be great if it was possible to see inside while she feeds because the outside is apparently perfect!

 

[noon_child]

Would be great if it was possible to see inside while she feeds because the outside is apparently perfect!

Oh God, if I had a penny for overtime someone said it "looked perfect"! Well it bl**dy hurts so it doesn't feel effing perfect to me!

In terms of getting an idea of whats going on inside when she sucks, would she suck on your finger? When my LO did that I could feel really easily how she cupped the underside with he tongue (like she was supposed to, but then as soon as she needed to move it to suck she pulled it back and clamped on with her gums...ouch!).

The LC may think that the TT may not be the cause of the pain and that you could still have issues if it were snipped, but I personally would prefer to get it snipped (if its an easy procedure now compared to later) and then if still in pain try other things - but that's my own view based on my own experience and pain.

To give you hope, it is possible for SOME TT babies to start coping with their TT and getting more movement as they grow but it totally depends on the tie. It doesn't fix itself but as the parts of the tongue that can move grow bigger it allows for more movement. My LO's feeding suddenly became pain free at 11 weeks, but I know many who struggled on for months longer with continued pain.

 

[IchigoMewMew]

The LC may think that the TT may not be the cause of the pain and that you could still have issues if it were snipped

Yeah i think she thinks the edge of her palate is causing the pain. Trying to persevere with flipple but discoverrd last night that she's actually been slipping off at times even though it feels like she's still on
(she does make a sort of gurgly noise though) now she hasn't had a dirty nappy since yesterday afternoon except for some tiny dark green bits! (although can hear some tell tale gurgling near her bottom end now! ) wonder if she wasn't getting what she was used to yesterday as she seemed to be nursing for shorter times? Wish i knew what i was letting myself in for properly with breastfeeding everyone made it seem so easy and natural 😞

 

[IchigoMewMew]

Just an update had the tongue tie cut today, DD had an 80% tie and scoredpretty badly on the appearance and movement criteria. Felt the letdown properly for the first time when I fed immediately after the procedure. Hopefully once my nipples have recovered from the previous damage it will all be good from now on, fingers crossed!