Tongue-tie questions

[mt_gooseberry]

My 2wo DS had a moderate tongue-tie clipped yesterday, as it was causing significant nursing problems.  I was under the impression things would improve right away, but aside from a relief from the nipple pain, we haven't had much improvement.  He still "smacks" when he sucks, swallows soooo much air, chokes, hiccups, comes off the nipple, and doesn't get enough to eat.  Even when his latch looks good, he still experiences these problems, which I had attributed to the tongue-tie.  He is miserable due to all of the air being swallowed, and developing reflux. 

So, for those of you who have experience with tongue-ties and clipping, how soon after the procedure did you notice improvement?  Am I going to have to teach him how to suck right or something?  If so, how?

PS  He also has a maxillary lip tie, which the dr. wouldn't touch.  Could this be affecting things?  My DD has a lip tie but it never affected her breastfeeding, so I haven't really expected problems with DS's lip tie....

[OSUvet]

My sons posterior tie was not clipped until 8 weeks, and it took about 2 weeks after that to see good improvement in his latch/suck. I was told to let him suck a clean finger with gentle downward pressure on his tongue to encourage him not to pull it back while sucking. We did this some but I think mostly it just took him some time to figure it out. DS  also has an uncorrected maxillary lip tie. HTH, good luck!

[GoGoGirl]

DD had posterior tongue tie that we had to get clipped twice, once around 3 weeks when it was first diagnosed, and then again a few weeks later when it became clear they hadn't clipped it enough the first time.

I know for posterior tongue tie, my LC recommended that we do suck training after the clipping.  DD had learned how to suck with a tongue tie, and needed to relearn how to do it differently once her tongue had more mobility.  There are specific exercises that I'd be happy to PM you, just PM me if you're interested.

I remember that nursing was immediately a little bit more comfortable after each clipping we did, and then nursing seemed even better by one week out, and much much better by like two weeks out.  I don't think it's an immediate fix, even if your own comfort improves a bit immediately.