Tongue tie and bottle feeding

[ENMS]

I'm just looking for any stories of tongue tie and bottle feeding.  My DS had a TT which got clipped at 10 days, but they couldn't clip all of it without putting him under GA and now it seems like it's growing back.

Feeds are annoying, he bobs on and off all the time. It always takes 2-3 sitting, me walking around the house, opening the TV to distract him. He does not look in pain, he is fully medicated for his reflux (Nexium AND Zantac) and is not having allergic reactions since he has not had solid food for 3 weeks and is drinking Nutramigen AA.. He is not even spitting up at all these days so really I highly doubt that reflux is the issue here.

I've made an appointment with the pediatric dentist that clipped it (because it was severe / complicated TT, the doctors could not do anything for me but referred me to that dentist who clipped it with a laser), but it's only July 11th and I'm getting impatient a little

I think that might be causing the issue, but when I search on google, I mostly find symptoms of TT for breastfed babies, not much about bottle fed babies.

Thanks! 

[flutie]

What kind of bottle is he using Elise?  We find that DS does so much better with a standard (we use dr. Browns) than a wide neck.

[Lolly]

My two are both quite significantly tongue tied - they couldn't BF but we had no problems with bottle feeding. The only times they refused to feed, were distracted or did the bobbing on and off was if their reflux was bad or I was trying to feed them and they really just weren't hungry.

Laura

[ENMS]

We also use Dr. Brown's standard.

I really do think his reflux is well controlled at the moment.  Usually, when he's not hungry, he will just seal his lips so I can't get the bottle in his mouth at all.  I was actually wondering if this was maybe learned behavior, he's always had so much issues feeding, maybe that's the way he's learned to do it

Laura, could he possibly be needing to feed every 4.5 of 5h then? Because I feed him after his naps, we've got more of an EASY going now, and so it's most days a good 4h between feeds (sometimes more).  He's still waking at night though which might be an issue here, I'm trying to wean the NF by reducing the oz but it's looooooong.  We keep having setbacks because he gets sick or has a reflux flare up.

[Lolly]

Babies do start going 4 hours+ but that when they are having solids too. I would keep to 4 hours max at the moment until you get somewhere with solids - I can't go that long between food .

How are things today?

Laura

[Fiver]

The tongue tie could still be an issue.  We have friend whose son had such a bad tie that he had virtually no available movement of his tongue and couldn't breast or bottle feed.

[ENMS]

Things were ok today, again, not a big fuss, but feeds are still no fun, he'll take 2-3 oz and then start fussing, except for the BT feed though which makes me think hunger might have something to do with it   Or he's really tired at BT these days because we're dropping the CN so it could be that he's really just falling asleep on the bottle - I've caught him with his eyes closed a few times lately!!!! I really don't think it's reflux, I could be wrong of course, but he's such a happy baby this week-end, usually if he has a flare up he'll have trouble feeding and will be fussy during the  day.

The feeling I got was that he was having trouble maintaining his latch on the bottle, but I could be wrong of course. He's definitely restricted in his tongue movement, but I wouldn't say that he doesn't have movement with his tongue. Maybe feeding is really tiring for him because he needs to make lots of efforts

[Rizo]

What about going down a teat size? I found when DS moved from 3 to 4 hour feeding he wanting to go up a size but after awhile and when he got used to eating 4hours apart he was struggling with the faster teat. He was doing similar behavior to your DS, bobbing on and off, seeming like he wanted the bottle but then hardly drinking. I just recently moved him back a size and he is fine now.

As a side note he also has tongue tie and I'm sure it causes more feeding issues than Drs will ever admit to. I could n't breastfeed either of my boys and I'm sure this is the reason, and even when we moved to bottles we have had more (little) problems than most people I know who's children aren't tongue tied...

[ENMS]

What about going down a teat size?

I actually tried the opposite, I tried to go up a teat size... he's been on level 3 since he was 3 months old, so I don't think going back to level 2 would help, though I'm willing to try it and see.

With level 4, the good news is that I get him to take more milk more quickly, so by the time he starts to fuss, he's already had an oz more or so.

As a side note he also has tongue tie and I'm sure it causes more feeding issues than Drs will ever admit to. I could n't breastfeed either of my boys and I'm sure this is the reason, and even when we moved to bottles we have had more (little) problems than most people I know who's children aren't tongue tied...

yep honestly I think so too.  even when his reflux is completely controlled, feeds are still no fun, and I can't think of anything else that could cause this.  we'll see in 2 weeks when we meet the pediatric dentist, she's a big-time expert in tongue ties here, so hopefully she'll be helpful and have some good insights for us.

[Fiver]

Good luck

[Rizo]

What about going down a teat size?

I actually tried the opposite, I tried to go up a teat size... he's been on level 3 since he was 3 months old, so I don't think going back to level 2 would help, though I'm willing to try it and see.

With level 4, the good news is that I get him to take more milk more quickly, so by the time he starts to fuss, he's already had an oz more or so.
Maybe still worth a try, but I kno what you mean about the more oz!

yep honestly I think so too.  even when his reflux is completely controlled, feeds are still no fun, and I can't think of anything else that could cause this.  we'll see in 2 weeks when we meet the pediatric dentist, she's a big-time expert in tongue ties here, so hopefully she'll be helpful and have some good insights for us.

Good luck, wish we had something like that over here. In NZ they are very reluctant to do anything about TT, neither of my DS's have had any treatment

[Rizo]

Haha sorry for weird reply, don't know what happened with the quote bit

[ENMS]

We got a call yesterday that there was a cancellation this morning so we went in to see the pediatric dentist (one of the experts in TT here).

She said it's still tied pretty bad. It can cause bottle feeding issues and it can definitely cause reflux. But of course she can't promise anything. We can clip it, there's no guarantee it will improve things however.

So I said yes and she clipped it again.  It was no fun  - she had to anesthesize him first with a needle, and then she clipped it with a laser. DS DID NOT like it to put it mildly, he was furious. But when it was over I picked him up and he calmed immediately, even smiled at the dentist. I think more of it was the frustration of being held and someone playing in his mouth, more than pain. But it will hurt him over the next couple of days so I'll need to give him Tylenol to ease the pain.

Hopefully that helps.

[flutie]

I hope the clip makes things easier for your ds...eating should be an enjoyable thing.

[Fiver]

Am glad you got in early.  The effects of TT can often actually be confused with reflux so you may find there's an improvement there too.  Did the dentist give you any exercises to keep the tongue from adhering?  Depending on how far back it was, it can sometimes do that.