Help working through pain at latch

[khaoskat]

I know the issue is having dealt with a tongue tie for 3 weeks now, with one week having been a bit better after an initial clipping.

But I am so sore, and he has to re-learn to nurse because he is biting down. I am in so much pain when he latches from the damage. I just need ideas on how to cope with or lessen the pain when he latches on and for the first few minutes.

I am going to try to get in with the LC's early next week to work on getting him corrected on his style, so we are nursing right instead of biting down and flicking the tip.

[jenfl]

I feel you, mama! DS had tongue tie clipped at 5.5 weeks, and we're still working on re-learning here at 9.5 weeks.

Here's what my LC has suggested:
- Lots of tongue exercises -- 3-4 times a day, use your finger or a paci to tease the tip of his tongue and get him to stick it out. Make it a fun game.
- Try different holds -- she suggested the football hold might get more breast into his mouth. This wasn't comfortable for us, but we were able to switch from cross-cradle to cradle and get a slight improvement.
- Nipple shield for 1-2 feedings or at the beginning of a feed. This will help a bit with the pain and she felt it would get him used to opening wider. I was really nervous about encouraging bad habits, so I only did this a few times.

If the pain is really, really bad, and the choice is between using a nipple shield all the time and stopping nursing, I would go for the nipple shield. I'm lucky that the pain isn't too bad right now. But if it were worse, I would go to the shield and worry about how to get him weaned off of that later.

Good luck! Tongue tie is such a rough thing to deal with when nursing. Congratulations for making it this far!

[PatioGardener]

Don't forget about painkillers. Ibuprofen (advil) helped me through latch issues after my DS was born.

[ewe+lamb]

Try also looking at this position which is www.biologicalnurturing.com which seems to work wonders with painful nursing. Tongue ties are so hard and although the clip has been done the tongue still needs to get used to it's new found freedom - although at this stage what I'm saying doesn't help you much, it does get better but patience is the key, The exercises suggested by jenfl are the best to really get the tongue suction working although i would try and stick with your little finger turned palm side up - to the palate, rather than a pacifier as you can actually feel the difference deeper in the mouth, can you let us know where the tongue clip was done i.e. what grade? then the exercises could change slightly, I presume you have some lahsinol cream to help some with the healing of the nipples and same as Patio Gardener take the Ibuprofen which will reduce the swelling and pain, keep posting.

[khaoskat]

No clue what grade it was...but the tie was so bad he could not move his tongue without it dimpling. He was sucking milk in by chomping (and I can really feel it now that we have been clipped).

IMHO, he was all the way to the tip of the tongue. I think he will always have a slight dimple in his tongue where it connected.

Ok, I am still in pain, and it is mostly on latch and when he is chomping down, and I can tell he is not nursing right because I am pancaked.

Got to go nurse again..

[mandica]

Jack Newman's All Purpose Nipple Ointment prepared with ibuprofen powder can help with pain due to poor latch. The ingredients can be found online and your doctor can write a prescription for it.

[annettemarie]

Moving out to the general forum