Lip tie

[Jaymelynn]

After three months of bf-ing I realized ds has a lip tie and possibly tongue tie He never was able to flange out his top lip and is latch is iffy. It was checked by a LC when he was 2 days old in the NICU, but never again. She said the latch was fine then. I am thinking maybe his latch is what is causing him to be fussy at the boob and all his gas. Could it be? Now what do I do? And to think I am a speech therapist

 

[CandyDay]

I would talk to your doctor or another midwife and let them know that you believe the tongue tie is causing a bad latch and soreness for you and see if it can be corrected. The younger they are the simpler it is to get done. My LO had hers done at 3 weeks. We never got the upper lip tie done but she is still able to BF. Her upper lip just doesn't flange like others she just found her own way.

 

[Jaymelynn]

How did they notice your lo's lip and tongue tie so early? I am trying hard to see under lo's tongue, but that is not easy. haha. I am not completely sure how good or bad his latch is. Maybe I can find a LC to look at it. It does look like air is going in through the corners of his mouth. I can see his tongue while he is bf-ing. I do not know if that makes sense. If you do not mind me asking- why didnt they correct the lip tie?

 

[CandyDay]

The lip tie wasn't noticed at the time and I never noticed it till later. She did have a gap between her teeth when she first started getting them but not its not as noticeable.
For the tongue tie you can try running your finger under the back of the tongue (nails nice and short of course) and see if you can feel a bit of a bump in the middle as you run your finger from side to side. Or take a good look when LO cries its easiest to see there at that time.
And If when your LO cries look at the tip of the tongue and see if there is a wave in the middle.

 

[Maxy1]

DS had lip tie. It went undiagnosed for about 12 months. It was terrible. I had constant problems and pain when BFing and saw the LC about every 3 weeks but every time was told his latch was ok and it would get better. Eventually, they looked for lip and tongue tie. He couldn't 'latch' on to any bottles and had a gap between his front teeth when they came through. His lip flanged a little at the start of the feed but pulled in shortly after and he used his gums to hold onto the breast. Very painful and let to lots of mastitis and vasospasm. not good.

We elected to get it lasered by a dentist at 12 months old. It is way easier (and better) to get this done early if you can. It cost us $300 to get it done and things improved so greatly since then that I continued to BF til DS was 2. The gap between his teeth disappeared. This was a big factor for us in getting the lasering done. Cheaper to spend $300 on laser than the potential cost for braces later