tongue tie clipped - but latch hasn't improved!

[chattte]

My 3 weeks old had his tongue clipped 2 days ago.
But unfortunately, despite others extremely positive experiences I read about when the latch improved right after the procedure and everything went smoothly afterwards, mine experience isn't that good.
which is frankly depressing.

has any of you had the same maybe?...
how are you supposed to retrain the baby? I try to give him my finger. sometimes he sucks more or less correctly, sometimes he kind of chokes.

my nipples are sore and it is painful to feed him.
although not THAT painful when the breasts are full with milk, but I also have another problem - low milk supply. it might be that those two things (tongue tie and incorrect latch plus low milk supply ) are interlinked.

please please please, if anyone of you had the same, could you share your experience of feeding a baby after frenulotomy?
how long did it take for you to get the latch right?

 

[summer rain]

Hi hun

no advice I'm afraid regarding experiences after the snip as my LO is tongue tied but we decided against having it snipped in the end; the reason being he has improved so much and I have heard before of the rare cases where snipping it caused more problems. Most of the time such problems can be overcome as far as I know. Does your LO have any other mouth issues or is it just the tongue tie? Many babies with tongue tie also have something called a high arched palate, or a receding jaw/overbite; both can cause latching problems as well. I think the low milk supply may have been caused by an ineffective milk transfer caused by the tongue tie; so you're probably right there, hopefully that will improve if you can get to latching well. Do you have a chance to be seen by a breastfeeding consultant of some type who can watch you latching/feeding and at the very least offer some help or advice?

xx

 

[Mum22GTTC]

I didn't notice a difference until 10-14 days later

Like you, I was disappointed to begin with, I even wondered whether the specialist had snipped it properly, I still had to move his lips with my fingers to get the latch correct, I was still in pain, he still fussed, then fell asleep after a minute or two etc.

Then one day I realised that feeding just felt normal, pain free and, well.... just as it should, natural I suppose - if that makes sense

It will get better, I promise!

 

[Enchanted]

Hi my LO is 7 weeks old now and we had his tongue tie clipped at 3 weeks. We were having to use a nipple contact shield before we had it clipped but after i was able to get him to latch.. it took a few days for him to get the hang of it. He would get really upset and cry and scream.. i ended up in tears a few times. but every time he would latch.. if i saw it was wrong i would immediately de latch him and make him start again. just keep trying good luck to you. if you have any questions feel free to ask

 

[SBB]

A couple of days isn't long, I can't remember how long it took for Sammuel to latch properly and pain free, but it definitely wasn't immediately because I remember also being disappointed....
Just make sure every time you feed you really make sure you're getting a good latch, with as much nipple in as possible, I did that for a few days after and it soon got better. We have been BFing since, pain free.

Just to add it was so bad before it was cut, that I was in tears every feed and got mastitis twice from the poor latch....

X x x

 

[Kota]

There's a good chance you'll need to retrain his latch, he would have been doing it one way because of the tongue tie, and now thats fixed, although he could latch properly, he doesn't know how to. Do you have a BF'ing support group near you, or a HV/MW you can see about getting your latch checked?

 

[chattte]

thanks a lot for sharing your experiences!!! it really helps!
I'm seeing a lactation consultant tomorrow. I will get the latch checked again.

Today is 4 days after his tongue was clipped. It's still not pain free (when he is really hungry and/or fussy it's painful). But what I can say for sure, now he is able to put into mouth much more of the breast and still do the sucking (before the procedure he would just slide down or refuse to suck with that amount of the breast in). I guess it's a good sign!

breastfeeding is amazingly hard, but it's funny that every tiny problem on our way to the successful breastfeeding just makes me want more to succeed (although there are tears from me and from the LO occasionally )

this forum is a great great support
THANK YOU.

 

[SBB]

I'm glad it's improving! I also was determined not to give up despite everything, and I'm so glad I didn't...

Hope the lactation consultant can help you get it perfect...



X x x

 

[chattte]

saw the consultant. she showed me a couple of tricks for a better latch which is great.

but at the same time found a few lumps in both of my breasts

said it's blocked ducts due to the baby wasn't being able to empty the breasts properly before. may lead to mastitis if untreated.
how many more breastfeeding challenges are out there?!

suggested to massage and press on them during feeding (when she pressed - quite hard - it was painful! should this be painful? )

did you find it hard to get rid of the lumps?
i'm slightly afraid of pressing on them...

 

[SBB]

I'd massage them in the shower... When they're warm. Or warm them with a flannel. It is normal though for them to be lumpy. Try not to worry. IF you do get mastitis, I won't lie it's not nice (v painful breast and flu symptoms), but as long as you get antibiotics as quickly as possible it clears up very quickly (24-48 hours). I had it twice within the first 3 weeks and got through it.

You may not get it at all! If full, my breasts are very lumpy! Just massage to help prevent it...

X x x

 

[SBB]

Oh and yes if I push a lump in my boob hard it bloody hurts! I think gentle massage is better, don't hurt yourself.
She isn't necessarily right!

X x x

 

[BrittanyLaRea]

I'm also having problems. My 2 week old got his tongue clipped two days ago and though it's not painful anymore, he just cries and cries when I try to feed him and it makes me cry. He takes a bottle fine when I pump, and he's good with a binky too, though it always pops out of his mouth. The times I do get him on my breast he sucks two or three times and then starts crying again and pushes off. How can I get him to eventually get a good latch and start nursing good, when he refuses to start sucking or even close his mouth over my nipple?

 

[LizziesMama]

It took about a week with my son. Until about 2 weeks post tt I supplemented. The first week I supplemented because of his latch still not being right, but the second week the latch was good but my supply had to adjust to hos needs once he learned to properly suck. I exclusively fed direct from 2 weeks after the procedure until 9 months when I started supplementing again, this time due to af and supply issues. I don't regret the procedure, but I think I was mislead into thinking it was painless and no big deal. It was obvious he was in pain for a couple days after the procedure. It took him a while to even try to feed and his mouth was funny like he didn't know how to use it properly. I think it's a process of healing and adjusting.

 

[LizziesMama]

Just read about the lumps...I was most successful pumping those out. I would massage them while pumping until my entire breast was soft. Once lo could latch and feed properly I didn't have that problem anymore. It did hurt slightly, but in a good way if that makes sense? Like massaging sore muscles...

 

[chevy4by]

Mine never did. Her tongue tie was clipped at 2 weeks. Any time I tried breastfeeding she would just become inconsolable, I think from the first 24 hours of trying to breastfeed. She would get upset the second I would try to get her to latch. So, now I pump and bottle feed. Occasionally I try again, but the result has always been the same. I saw a lactation consultant 3 times about it........

 

[Care76]

OP, if massage and heat alone don't work for getting the blockage out, try this. I couldn't get anything to work and I ended up putting a heat pad on my breast and massaging it and then I pumped on my hands and knees with my breast pointing towards the floor. Sounds funny, but baby feeding nor the pump sitting up worked.

I'm also having problems. My 2 week old got his tongue clipped two days ago and though it's not painful anymore, he just cries and cries when I try to feed him and it makes me cry. He takes a bottle fine when I pump, and he's good with a binky too, though it always pops out of his mouth. The times I do get him on my breast he sucks two or three times and then starts crying again and pushes off. How can I get him to eventually get a good latch and start nursing good, when he refuses to start sucking or even close his mouth over my nipple?

My son did this and it was because I had supply issues. Not sure if this is your reason. He wanted the fast flow like the bottle so I ended up not giving him the bottle anymore and I put him to breast every 20-60 mins. He did scream at almost every feed, but I took herbs and domperidone to up my supply and he now feeds just fine. We are going on 9 months soon.