Tongue tie and bottle feeding

[ENMS]

She told me to just apply pressure with my finger every day but I looked up online and found some exercices which I will definitely do many times per day - I'd like to avoid getting it clipped for a third time

She also said we were right on time - he has 2 teeth in the bottom but none on top, and because she had to anesthesize his tongue, if he had teeth above and below it would've been a risk of him biting on his tongue hard since he didn't feel anything.

[Fiver]

Good news.  Wish I'd known about the exercises as I'm fairly sure DD's TT has fused up to a degree.

[ENMS]

I did some exercises the first time but started late and did it for a week or two - guess it was not enough   will keep doing it once a dasy for while this time!

[ENMS]

Did any of you get a TT clipped at a later age like my DS? He's 6.5 months. Apparently the most important exercise is to have him suck on my finger and then I slowly pull it out to stretch the tongue. But he won't suck on my finger! He just wants to chew it and play with it. I've tried playing around in his mouth but I can't seem to stretch his tongue...  I do the other exercises but I'm really struggling with this one.

[flutie]

I remember he has some food intolerances, but what if you put something sweet on your finger like pureed pear or something.  Would he be more apt to suck??

[ENMS]

He's currently eating apples, so when I give them to him today, I'll try it! I also keep sticking my tongue out to show him, he seems really interested and curious but so far he hasn't tried to do it himself!

[Fiver]

Would he suck on a slice of apple perhaps rather than you putting in on your finger?  My DD was "only" 9w when hers was done (too long - ouch!)

[ENMS]

yeah it didn't work putting it on my finger, I think tomorrow I'll try removin the bottle towards the end of his feed, and giving it back a few times

I'm terrified of having it grow back again. I kept poking my finger in there today, poor thing, but I am taking this seriously

[Fiver]

Totally understandable that you're concerned.  I wish I'd known back in February 2011 what I know now about the exercises (like you need to do them!) as things may have been a lot easier with DD than they were, although having the division done in the first place made such a HUGE difference that I just felt grateful it had been done.

Keep on keeping on

[ENMS]

I just wanted to update you all.  DS drinks much much better now.  When he drinks, I actually feel the bottle being pulled more towards him, like his suction is much better. So definitely a major improvement with clipping the TT again. Unfortunately, he will not let me near his mouth to do his exercices anymore. I'm trying to persevere but without DH it is getting impossible to do on my own! He's a strong little man  

In addition to that, we have found a bottle that he prefers, initially got it because it is good for refluxers as they are more upright, but I suspect that the y-cut nipple, in addition to the straw thing, gives him the perfect flow and he's really loving it.

http://www.podee.com/

So with the combination of these two things (the TT first so I know it really did make a difference and it's not just a coincidence), my little man has gone from drinking 27-28 oz per day, to 37-42 oz per day. And he is much happier (guess he's not always hungry anymore!).  

[Fiver]

Hooray!  What good news, Elise!  So glad it's made the difference.  Pesky TTs!

[ENMS]

Hi again!

I just wanted to come back and do a little update. Before I had the appointment with the dentist in June, I had called another specialist in the big city, a GP who specializes in TT. She gave us a call after her vacation in July and we decided to go even if we had already seen the dentist and done the clipping. When we got there, she gave us the 'speech', how clipping a TT was not proven to help anything other than BF, how it was probably not what was causing him problem, etc. Then she examined him. You could see disbelief in her face as she examined him. She needed to use a special tool to see under his tongue because she couldn't do it with just her fingers. Immediately she said that we could try clipping it, but she couldn't guarantee results. She said 35% chance that it could help him. DH and I discussed it and ended up deciding to do it. Although he was feeding better, he was still having major problems with reflux and digesting solid foods. She did say there was a link between these and TT but nothing was proven.

We went back this week for a follow up appointment and she told us that when she examined him, she could not believe what she saw.  She was beyond shocked, she said she clipped over 300 TT and never saw one that was this tight  She didn't want to tell us at the first appointment, as she did not want to bias us and she wanted it to be our decision.

She said he basically had no movement at all with his tongue. Nothing. She just repeated over and over 'tight, tight, tight'. It was a posterior TT of course so not many doctors here specialize in that.

She clipped it with scissors, with just local orajel application and some tylenol beforehand. It was definitely less painful for DS than the local anesthesia + laser clipping. He recuperated much faster and much easier. A few minutes after he was already laughing and did not seem bothered at all. Thankfully DH was there with me this time so I did not watch up close, I just could not stand to watch this one more time 

So far, so good. He's doing well, and has been eating solids for 7 days now which is his longest stretch even without starting to refuse to eat.  Fingers crossed that it continues.

[Fiver]

Oh Elise, I'm so glad you've had such a positive experience with this doctor (in the end!!)  I really hope this is the end to his struggles and everything improves greatly from here on in

[ENMS]

Thanks Amanda. I just really feel the need to share because TT is always viewed as a BF problem, but it can be more than that, but I could never find any info on other stuff you know? The more everyone knows, the more likely that the next person in my shoes can be helped

[Fiver]

You've already seen the FAQ we've put together on TT (http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=233789.0) - some of those links talk about issues with solid food and bottles as well as BF, although in infancy it does tend to be more of a BF issue as often LOs can bottle feed more easily as they have adequate tongue mobility for that, but not to milk the breast.

TT then comes up as an issue in childhood if there are speech issues.

I do think it's a shame that anyone, whether BF or bottle feeding, has to fight so hard to get diagnosis and treatment for such a simply remedied issue.

Good for you for pushing through