Tongue tie? Please sare your experiences

MJCP

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I am starting to wonder whether my LO (16.5 weeks) has a tongue tie.

Things that seem to support it:
- He is a very slow nurser, min 40 mins, longer these days because he gets distracted and starts chatting and cooing before continuing to eat
- Slow bottle feeder too, but I think because we use slow flow nipple so he doesn't reject breast (he has once or twice fed very quickly when we used a faster flow nipple)
- He doesn't seem to suck very effectively, like he will until and through initial let down, but then it seems he's suckling more than anything and takes at least 10 mins until next let-down (by the way, does he trigger let-down or does my body?)
- Bubbles at his mouth (but then don't all babies do this at his age?)
- Hand up by his face when he eats (one website said this was a sign or stress, mind you he looks pretty calm and content to me)
- Possible slow weight gain....was 11lbs12oz at 9.5 weeks (born at 7lbs5oz), only went to 12lbs12oz at 14.5 weeks, though the nurse reassured me this was normal and ok

Things that don't:
- No issues with latch, ever
- No issues with painful/cracked nipples, ever
- No issues with reflux/vomiting, barely any spit up
- He STTN since very young, I have read usually tongue-tied babies wake very frequently because they're so hungry as they don't get much at every feeding

I have also attached a picture I took earlier today. What do you think? And if it is a tongue tie, please share your experiences with getting it fixed (how quickly did feeding improve, what side effects on LO if any on day of procedure, etc, etc).

In a way I'm kind of hoping this might be the answer to his slow feedings, as honestly it's getting really tiring and I'm contemplating slowly stopping BF because it just takes up SO much time, I feel like I have so little time to play with him. On the other hand, the thought of him having what although seems like a pretty quick and easy procedure, kills me.
 

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The thing with tongue tie, it doesn't matter what it looks like, it's what the tongue can do that counts. Sometimes a frenulum looks really bad, but will stretch and allow normal movement. Sometimes a less obvious frenulum is really tight and restricts the tongue. Here's a link that shows you what to look for: https://cwgenna.com/quickhelp.html
 
Robert was diagnosed with posterior tounge tie a week ago. He couldn't stick his tounge out, had a bad latch, bobbed off the breast every 2-3 minutes , would sometimes take 2 hours to feed, one day I cluster fed him for six hours. He got gassy because he was sucking in air which worsened his silent reflux. He only really got milk when I had a let down. He had a very sensitive gag reflex. We are between operations on it and so I am exclusively expressing. Am hoping second snip improves things so we can breastfeed. The snip only made him cry for two mins and he stopped once he got milk.
 
Looks like there could be a bit of a tongue tie there, my lo had a 100% tongue tie which wasnt picked up till 4 months, she couldnt latch on at all when breast feeding so ended up formula feeding full time,
(so annoyed now it wasn't picked up when trying to feed her in hospital!!) she didnt gain weight well, and dropped 2 centiles before it was picked up!

She also sttn from about 6 weeks though! See you're gp or hv if you are concerned as there are varying degrees of tongue tie and all babies cope differently with it, (my dd had 100% tight tongue tie which is the worst :/) i'll try and upload a pic :)
 

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Hi, didn't want to R+R. My LO had 100% tongue tie so I can't really comment on the picture as you LO's looks different to mine and I don't know how to tell between normal and some of the posterior tongue ties.

My LO got his snipped at 5 weeks. Before that feeds went on forever, literally, if they were under an hour it was a miracle and it was really draining. He would latch on well (and could do from day 1) but would often slip down/come off the nipple and I would hear him taking in air. I never had sore nipples. My HV wouldn't even look in LO's mouth to check when I said I thought he had TT as she said if he was latching and my nipples were OK it wasn't TT and didn't matter - rubbish woman, if you are wondering see someone who actually knows what they're talking about with this. I went to a breastfeeding counsellor in a different borough who was brilliant.

At 16 weeks it's a really tricky question about whether I would've got it fixed. Even at 5 weeks it took my LO a week or so to relearn how to BF which after having it cut they do have to do as their tongues are so much more flexible, and even in 5 weeks my LO had learnt a load of bad habits which he'd had to do as his tongue wasn't doing what it was meant to if that makes sense. I don't know how easy that would be to unleanr those after 16 weeks. Don't know what age they'll do it up to without needing an anaesthetic either, if it was me I wouldn't have put him through that for a tongue tie snip...

It did work well for us I was also about to give up BF as those long feeds were really draining it took about 1-2 weeks by which time feeds were down to 30-40mins ish (which was less than half of where we'd started), and gradually over time he sped up further

HTH x
 
Oy....I never even thought for a second that his long feedings could be related to a tongue tie. Mind you I never even knew anything about it, other than hearing about it very briefly in our prenatal class, but the only thing that was said was that if LO has trouble breast-feeding, it could be one of the possible causes. So the thought never crossed my mind....
I will take him to the weekly breastfeeding clinic this Monday and have him looked at.
I hate to think that if he's snipped he might have trouble feeding because he needs to re-learn....I'd be so afraid of this messing up breast-feeding and having to stop!
Any other possible causes of long feedings that anyone might know of??
 
My LO had tongue tie, snipped at 6 weeks. The feeding was unbearably painful and my nipples had that pinched look when he came off. He was a very slow feeder, his poos were always green rather than yellow. I'd say the painful feeding was the main thing for me. When it was snipped things improved within about 6 weeks. I would ask a lactation consultant to look at it as it looks similar to how my LO looked. Does you LO have the heart shaped tongue? Difficult to tell from the pic
 
No heart -shaped tongue, completely normal looking to me, rounded.
I have no pain whatsoever when breastfeeding, never have and they do not look pinched once he comes off. And his poos have always been yellow. He doesn't pull off the breast much, he will usually stay on it for 15-20 minutes and then want the other!
I am just worried because he's a slow feeder, even at 16.5 weeks. I'm also so worried though that it's "too" late and that he will not know what to do with the breast once snipped and that will be the end of BF:cry:
 
My LO has a tongue tie and I've known about it (and was diagnosed by an ENT and lactation consultant) since he was 2 1/2 months. He couldn't stick his tongue out and he has a very shallow latch. It takes him awhile to eat as well. They didn't want to cut his tongue tie then because of his age, it's not as easy a few months in as it is when they're a newborn. After 6 months, apparently, they can use different types of anesthesia.

Since he was gaining weight well they weren't too concerned and felt that he would grow out of it. Honestly, it has gotten a little better. He can stick his tongue out a tiny bit now. He still has a shallow latch, and I have to take lecithin to prevent clogged ducts and recurrent milk blebs that were making my life hell for first few months. Since I started taking the lecithin though I haven't had any issues with clogged ducts and milk blebs.

A lactation consultant or pediatrician should be able to tell whether it's a tongue tie or not, and how severe it is. I was a little irritated myself that it wasn't first caught in the hospital, because I now have to go see a specialist every few months to make sure he's growing out of it. I think their primary concern for my LO right now is a speech impediment.

:hugs:
 
My LO can stick his tongue out and does pretty frequently....not much past his lip, but definitely the tip is out of his mouth.
 
Sorry only just seen your replies now. I think i was a bit unclear when I said 'need to relearn how to breastfeed' what I meant was the way my LO had always been doing it wasn't brilliant - it worked but had flaws as he couldn't do it the normal way. Once the TT was snipped he was physically able to breastfeed the proper way as his tongue now moved enough to let him do it but he didn't know how. I wouldn't have thought having it treated would stop you being able to breastfeed if it's working ok at the minute but just having it snipped won't necessarily solve the problems without a bit of extra work. It's a bit like going back to the beginning and if you see a bad habit eg not opening mouth wide enough having to unlatch and get LO to relatch properly....

The fact that your LO can stick his tongue out is really good. My LO couldn't do this before he had his TT snipped.

The other thing about TT is that most babies who have this don't have any speech problems etc whether they get it treated or not which is why in the UK the only reason for treating it is for feeding problems. it's not something that has to be treated just because it's there and as a PP said some of the worst looking tongue-ties get left completely alone because they're not causing any problems.
 
Thank you, that reassures me about the breastfeeding. I figured that if it is TT he would need to "re-learn" a little, but I got concerned that since he's eaten this way for 17 weeks that it would be close to impossible.....okay, I;m a real drama queen!
Anyway, I'll go have it looked at tomorrow by a lactation specialist.
Thanks for your input:flower:
 

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