Lip-tie - Correct or not?

[newlywedtzh]

So after 3 weeks of osinful breast feeding and sore nipples I decided to call a lactation consultant for a home visit. We then found that she has a class iv upper lip tie and I think a bottom one too. She gained almost 2lbs and got 2oz of milk after a very interrupted feed so she is getting milk fine and gaining well. It's just painful for me bc she uses her gums to chomp down on my areola to compensate for not being able to flange out her upper lip. I've researched how to get a deeper latch and it seems to be helping somewhat with the pain. I also don't know how her teeth will come in with having this.

Does anyone have any experience with this ? Should I get it corrected? The lactation consultant helped me get a deeper latch but that's all she could really do. She recommended seeing a pediatric dentist or ent

 

[newlywedtzh]

Ishould mention she has no visible tongue tie

 

[RaspberryK]

Ds had an undiagnosed upper lip tie and I had pain for 6-8 weeks but it lessened and wasn't every feed. It was discovered much later after it wasn't worth doing anything with.
It broke as a toddler when he had a fall.
I would get it snipped if it's and option.
Xx

 

[Maxy1]

Get it fixed!!!

DS had a lip tie with no tongue tie and used his gums to clamp on down. It went disastrously. At about 4 weeks into it, I got mastitis and had it for the next 14 months until his lip tie was cut. The clamp and suck also tore off one whole nipple and severed the other one so it was only half hanging on. It was horrific. The damage was so severe because I had undiagnosed raynauds as well, but it wouldn't have been that bad without the lip tie. His lip tie also prevented him from using a bottle.

When DS's teeth came in, his lip tie caused a gap between his front teeth. We had it lasered at the dentist and the gap closed rather quickly.

As other pp said, most children will split the tie when they fall so it usually isn't an issue for adult teeth later. But its not always the case.

 

[newlywedtzh]

Maxy wow. How did he cause that much damage? And how did that cause mastitis?

My nipples are sore but no cracks or scabs or anything like that

 

[krisum]

Mine also has a lip tie. Not sure the class but looks to come past the gums onto her hard palate. She is having issues gaining weight though and only took in Just over 1 oz in an hour long feeding session. I also have tears in both my nipples but the pain is getting better by the day. We are going to a breastfeeding specialty clinic next week so hopefully they can give us some more advice. I'd say if your lo I'd gaining good and it's not causing nipple damage there is no point in having it fixed?

 

[DCMum]

Oddly mine both had lip tie but I didn't notice it until they were older. They both gained well and it was only as their front teeth were coming in with a gap that I realized the frenulum was tied. I've heard a lot of stories of kids busting theirs when learning to walk (and apparently it bleeds A LOT so just be warned) but my kids' both resolved on their own. By 12 months there was no gap between the teeth and the frenulum seems to have just sort of moved or shortened on its own.
I will note though that I have read that lip tie can lead to speech problems later in life and my DS1 (who had an undiagnosed lip tie) also has some speech problems.

 

[Maxy1]

Maxy wow. How did he cause that much damage? And how did that cause mastitis?

My nipples are sore but no cracks or scabs or anything like that

That is fantastic that you are not having any nipple issues!! It was the clamp and suck and technique he had, he would continuously slip off the breast onto the nipple which made him clamp down harder and suck harder trying to stay on. With the raynauds I had no blood supply to the nipple often so damage would not repair and get worse and worse. Being a naive FTM, I believed it was just the 'starters pain' everyone talks about and cracking, so just kept going. It wasn't until the nipple came off that we got a referral to a LC. The clamping down caused the milk to not transfer properly and back up in the ducts cos it couldn't get past his clamp and gave me mastitis. DS gained weight well and was a chubby baby so no one really thought there was any problem, other than my health that is

DD had a lip tie too, but with her everyone was on the ball so I had LC's come and see her, my GP put me on nifedipine straight away this time and her lip tie was lasered at 3 weeks. We have had such a sweet run this time around. Its been awesome.

 

[newlywedtzh]

Hmm... well I reached out to a pediatric dentist.. I'm just unsure if I wnt to go forward with lasering it. Does it take long to heal? Do they not eat at that time? I think I will go for at least a consult.

I'm nervous I'm going to do major damage to my nipples. She definitely clamps down with her gums but its on the area above and below the nipple. They are red and slightly inflamed but her latch is pretty good I think so I don't get the nipple pinching just the gum chomping.

I noticed that it has decreased some feeds are completely pain free and I'm like omg so THIS is what its supposed to feel like! And then at night when she's really hungry I notice she'll chomp the entire time. So my nipples never have a complete chance to heal bc of the times she does chomp.

Ugh I'm just so upset I really wish it was just going smoothly.

 

[Maxy1]

I really liked the laser treatment compared to friends who had them cut. There is less blood (nearly none) and both of my children fed immediately after. They say it takes about ten days to heal. During that time you have to pull the lip up before each feed to ensure it didn't heal tight. TBH we only did abut 5 days for each and they are both perfectly fine. DD was a bit grumpy and sore for about 2-3 days and fed a bit shorter but nothing major, we didn't use paracetamol or anything, she seemed more uncomfortable than pained. DS, who had his lasered at 14 months, didn't seem that bothered at all. We had more frustration trying to retrain him to latch on properly.

 

[CupcakeBaby]

My DD has an upper lip tie. I don't know about severity but I have always had to flip it her upper lip for her (still doing it at 17m)

I had pain until a 8-10 weeks and it can be a little painful now but that could be the case with BFing without a tie. I have no comparison.

She's always gained weight well and not ever fed from the boob so it's not affected us really.

 

[supertabby]

DS has an upper lip tie (he had tongue tie too but has been cut) but here in UK doctors won't treat it unless problems arise in later life (speech issues, tooth decay). In UK it's believed that there is no evidence of lip tie causing feeding issues. In US there are claims from doctors that it causes feeding problems but I don't know if this is because in US there is money to be made, or in UK there is money to be saved etc.

Anyway everything I've read says lip tie is always accompanied by a tongue tie. There's a very good chance the pain is being caused by tongue tie. It is not always visible - a posterior tongue tie can be hard to diagnose.

We've been bf pain free for 8 months now with a severe lip tie (class IV) but it was very painful and difficult before the tongue tie was cut.

I would see if there are any specialist providers near you. The Facebook group Tongue Tie Support Group have lists of good tongue and lip tie specialists globally. Think that's the group name, I left it a while ago because it was clogging my news feed.

 

[Maxy1]

Anyway everything I've read says lip tie is always accompanied by a tongue tie. There's a very good chance the pain is being caused by tongue tie. It is not always visible - a posterior tongue tie can be hard to diagnose.

I have read this too, but neither of my children had a tongue tie. And we had multiple specialists looking for it because they believed the same thing and they just couldn't find one at all!!

I also didn't know that there were degrees of severity for lip tie, so that is a new one for me. I guess DS's lip tie was severe because he couldn't have his upper lip flared so as to create a suction. Thus he couldn't use the breast or the bottles that all seem to require a proper latch to use. Milk would go everywhere

We were very happy with our decision for both children to have the lip tie fixed.