tongue tie...

[southernmommie]

Went to a LLL meeting today and we think baby Aidan has tongue tie. I'm waiting for the nurse to call me back to make an appt with the dr. Has anyone else dealt with this?

[quasar]

With my first, I dealt with it. Unfortunately for me, we didn't have it corrected for several weeks. I faced blistered nipples and clogged ducts when nursing because he couldn't latch properly. He was gaining weight, but having trouble nursing. DP finally made the pediatrician clip the tongue. It was a quick procedure done in the office. I was a little reluctant to have it done because I was worried it would be painful for him. It only took a few seconds and he was able to nurse immediately afterward. After he had it clipped, nursing went so much better. He started gaining weight really well and it wasn't a struggle.

I think it's good to find this out early on so you can have it corrected if you want. Our son hasn't had any problems since he was clipped. Our newest little one doesn't seem to be tongue-tied.

[ILovePie]

Yup. Both my boys were tongue-tied.

DS1's was corrected in the pediatrician's office at 4 days.

DS2's was posterior and the only doctor local and/or covered by insurance who would do posteriors did it under general anesthesia. So he wouldn't do the surgery until DS2 was 3 or so weeks old.

I am very regretful now of not driving 8 hours to see a doctor who would have done it at days old and awake.

The procedure is really pretty painless for them (I was in the room for DS1's and it was not a big deal at all. He was pissed they held his head still. He bled a couple of drops and then he slept. It wasn't a pain scream.)

Anyway, DS2 now has a longer learning curve for use of his tongue with all this new mobility (he was very very tied - and the ENT said it was unusually posterior), simply because he was using it the old way for longer. I really wish we'd just had it done a lot sooner. He was diagnosed at a day old. My gut said to take care of it immediately, but everyone else told me to be patient and maybe even avoid surgery. Last time I don't listen to my gut...

I'm struggling and starting to wonder how I will feel about myself if I'm still nursing a toddler but can't nurse my newborn...

[smartycat]

I am quasar's partner and I would strongly encourage you to have it snipped / corrected as soon as possible. Everyone kept poo-poo-ing it and after 6 weeks of frustration, I finally demanded it be done. It took 2 seconds and as quasar said, nursing was instantly better.

[PieKat]

I had Jacob's clipped at 1 week old. I have low supply issues anyway and it was a no-brainer for me to have it fixed. It made a definite improvement almost immediately and my nipples are happier too. The ENT that did it used a numbing gel which was more traumatic than the actual procedure (he swallowed it, and aspirated milk and then in a dramatic gurgly moment spit it out his nose and mouth... Took about 25 minutes to calm him down. Other than that. . . It was no big deal.

[southernmommie]

We actually got an appointment with the ONLY peds dr in our military hospital that does this procedure for today. We went in to see if Baby Aidan even had tongue tie. Turns out he did. It was posterior and at 6%. (I know nothing about the %... just added that for those of you that do know.) So he cut it. No numbing medicine or anything. He said that he has found that the numbing medicine actually causes more problems than just cutting it. So that is what he did. I nursed as soon as he got it to slow bleeding where it wasn't just gushing blood. It's fine now. Baby Aidan does fuss so I've given him Tylenol at the dose they told me. He does not have a fever. (Couldn't give the Tylenol if he did have a fever.) He's sleeping right now and my nipples might not have blood blisters by this time tomorrow!!! Yay!! I think the worse part was hearing him cry for hunger in the time leading up to the cut. It seemed like it took F-O-R-E-V-E-R! Poor thing was so hungry! Thanks everyone for the reassuring words. He is 5 days today and I'm so glad that it was fixed now and my nipples will heal!! I truly LOVE breastfeeding, but when it's not going right... it can really make you doubt your choice and look for an easier way. I know it hurt, but I'm glad I stuck with it and seeked out answers.