Close to quiting

[Pearla]

Hi all,

So lo is 14 weeks.   Through this time we have struggled with fussy feeding (majority of feeds bar night and if baby fed immediately upon waking). And wind.....constant hard to release burps.  Lo after initial period has been consistently gaining weight.   I express two bottles.   This to give me some flexibility as don't feel I can currently feed in public given nature of fussy feeds.  lo takes bottle better. But still has same amount of wind.  We still use teet 1 as would struggle with a faster flow.

After visiting a Lc have been told lo has a posterior tongue tie.  Explains a lot of the symptoms.   

I'm so gutted as I have asked several people to assess tongue..   All who missed posterior tie.   Looking back now they were just looking for the classic anterior tie.

So the choice is revision.  However Lc seemed not too keen on this approach.   She didn't say no, but kept stressing that might not alter feeding, and could infact make worse.  She said posterior tie are slightly more complex. And have greater reattachment rates.  In addition with lo over 3 months she said post revision stretching might create oral aversion in lo.

Basically I don't know what to do.  I don't want to do correction if the possibility of no improvement or reattachment is a risk.  However,  I'm struggling to believe that I can continue feeding.  My nipples are ok. But lo fusses comes off, back on, needs to be winded during feeds.   Majority of feeds not relaxing.  Also take a lot of time.  Nighttime however majority of feeds are relaxed!!!!  Not sure why.

So I feel put off by proceedure, also at same time the possibility of am improvement is very tantalising.

It seems their are pro camps and then the counter camps amd it's hard to get a balanced factual overview.

Baby can lift tongue about 1cm if that helps anyone. 

Is it possible to avoid revision and it not causing long term problems.   
Can it loosen overtime and is there any way of predicting which tied will loosen.

Basically I'm petrified of the outcome of the proceedure,  but also afraid not to o it due to continuing with the current wind and fussy feeds but also the long term potential.

I'm in ireland where it is very much a divided issue.

Any advice?
Any tips on feeding through a tie.
Any speech therapists or medical professions on here that might advise

Thankyou.

[becj86]

Oh sweetie, its hard when feeding is not easy Hugs xx

Nighttime however majority of feeds are relaxed!!!!  Not sure why.

Different position?
Different environment - fewer distractions?
Different flow at night?
Are you more relaxed because you are not as concerned about NFs going well?

Is feeding once per A time sufficient for your LO? If not, is she feeding to move gas along or because she's hungry?

Sorry for all the questions, I had a rough time feeding my DS initially too, but was able to feed til 2.5yo once the issues were sorted. TBH, if your nipples are doing ok, then I'm not sure how much the tongue tie is contributing and how much is other things. I'm not an LC of course, but I could've written your post re: gas and winding and fussy feeding a while back minus the TT issue and I don't think even in retrospect that TT was an issue for DS.

[Pearla]

Thanks for reply.

Yes I definitely agree re some of the issues being age related.  However,  really since birth I have known that his feeding and the level of trapped wind he has are not right.
After having been told at first jaundice, colic, then reflux, then just he is young and learning, wind will be gone by 10-12 c I am dairy free just incase it was related ....the tongue tie seems to tick all the boxes.  I am frustrated that after 12 long weeks knowing something wasn't right and asking the professionals that noone once looked I'm his mouth.

I express the first feed of am and last feed before bed.  I have noticed that I'm pretty certain that the feeds between these are also suffering now with low supply.  We have also seen return of green poops probably as not emptying breast and once fussing starts on breast it is almost impossible to get him to return for any significant length of time.

Today after breastfeeding I expressed a 2oz eventually between  both breasts and gave it to him.  He drank it all.  He does a lot of sucking but not swallowing.   Last night the first night feed went well.  The second in early am he was more awake for and again that wasn't great.

I feel I will end up expressing more and more to try and increase my supply, but with two other lo I'm not sure how long I can maintain it for.

Would anyone on this forum have experience of posterior tongue ties or professional speech therapists or peads workers?? and have any feeding tips.  Or at 13+ weeks and counting is there any chance a reversal isn't too late or won't make things worse.

Again sorry, I know I sound like I'm ranting,  I am I guess.  I'm just really frustrated.   Will try going to 17 weeks in the hopes something may change.

Thanks

[evwright]

Hi,

I haven't much time, but just to quickly add that we were diagnosed with a small posterior tongue tie at 4 months and had revision a couple of weeks later. It did make feeding easier and we had previously had a lot of the problems you mention plus reflux on top. We didn't have exercises or anything afterwards and there was no re-attachment in our case. For us it was a positive way to go.

Hope that helps x

[Pearla]

Thanks.

May I ask were you advised to revise it?  And if so by whom and for what reasons were u given.  I saw a pead consultant who basically left us on the fence?

Glad to hear your outcome pisitive.  Thanks for responding x

[evwright]

Hi, it was our lactation consultant who advised seeing the consultant and sent us to the one she thought most likely to do the revision as she felt it would help us. I think we would have avoided a lot of feeding/supply problems if it had been picked up earlier, but it definitely improved our feeds even done late in the day. The procedure itself was really quick, lo was more upset about being held still than the actual revision. We had a feed straight afterwards and the difference was noticeable immediately. Hope that helps x

[becj86]

Some of the issues you're talking about sound to me a bit like oversupply or overactive letdown or both may be part of the issue for you. This can lead to feeding being a bit uncoordinated and mimics reflux.

I'm sure you've tried breast compressions when LO gets fussy. My DS used to get really fussy with the second letdown and would either unlatch or would clamp down on my nipple. I found that massaging the breast near the chest wall, not the areola just before a feed made a big difference for DS as it maybe helps release some of the fat from the walls of the milk ducts, so there's more fat earlier in the feed and the green poops disappeared in a few days with that.

[*Ali*]

It doesn't sound like you have supply issues if you can express 2oz after a feed. It sounds more like LO is struggling to transfer the milk that is there. Thats probably due to the tie so as a mum I would want to try dividing it.

Have you tried laid back nursing? https://www.laleche.org.uk/positioning-attachment/

[zissi]

hi there,

I had a similar feeding experience with my second also due to tongue tie. we got it revised twice, at 7 weeks and at 12 weeks due to re-attachment. the issue you describe is that your LO has problems transferring the milk due to his TT, so he becomes frustrated at the breast. he takes it okay at night time because he is sleepy enough. we had exactly the same.Im also in Ireland. Im surprised the LC is on the fence about releasing it. I think it can only improve feeding. you have nothing to lose as feeding already isn't great. TT can have long term effects on speech and solids. you could see another LC, if you PM me I can give you a few names of good ones that are knowledgable about TT's.
Our feeding got better with age and I fed every hour or so during the day to ensure that my LO got enough. she would only stay a couple of minutes at the breast at each feed, pretty much for the initial letdown where no work was required to get at the milk. after this she would lose interest and pull off. it was stressful but got much better around the 5/6 months mark. we fed till she was 23 months and she became more fond of the boob the older she became. or and feeding in the dark room laying down etc also helped to create an environment without distraction...feel free to email me with any questions...