Attached frenulum or "tongue-tied" baby

[Logan Sapphire]

Re: Attached frenulum or

I'm certainly no expert since we didn't get my son's tongue tie clipped and I exclusively pumped instead- how does his latch feel now? Do you think the clipping helped? I know there are some kids who have to get it done repeatedly and it still doesn't help. I guess it's probably too early to tell what difference it's made for you, since your nipples still haven't "toughened up" yet anyway.

Btw, our ENT said that a mild or moderate tongue-tie can cause lots of nipple pain for the mom, while a severe one won't necessarily cause more pain. The severity is not always commensurate with the amt of pain caused. Hearing that made me feel better b/c DS had a mild to moderate TT, but the pain he caused me was incredible.

 

[Circe]

Re: Attached frenulum or

It seems to have worked wonders, for a certain value of "wonders" - he's currently enjoying his newfound talent for sticking his tongue out! Which is actually a thing ... one reason my husband was in favor of snipping the frenulum is that he has traumatic memories of his snapping when he was 8. Eeesh. We were finger-feeding using an SNS kit for the first week, so we can tell that he's not biting like he used to, either.

Buuuuuuuuuuut ... he's not latching right, either. I'm not sure if it's nipple confusion, or something else - recessed jaw, maybe, since I know they go hand in hand with the tongue-tying sometimes? - but he'll get the nipple in his mouth and suck a little before drawing back, or crying. The last LC said that even when he did suck (with or without the shield), he just wasn't getting much in the way of food. So right now I'm mostly pumping, and trying to coax him to the breast when he's full enough not to be frantic, but not so full as to have no interest. I'm heartened to hear that it's normal for it to take 4-6 weeks to establish BFing ... and in the meantime, I'm reading the "Pumpers Unite" thread, and feeling a little better about things.

BTW ... reading this thread, I'm in awe of our gender, and what we-all do for our babies as a matter of course. Before this, I never heard women speak so matter-of-factly of hospitalization, etc. as no big thang. It's all worth it - I'm just fascinated. *

*The smiley with the tongue was just too appropriate not to use ....

 

[Jennifer W]

Re: Attached frenulum or

I have no advice, I haven't had to deal with this. I just popped into the thread to say that I'd be willing to look at photos of your wee boy, if you felt like posting them.

 

[Jennifer W]

Re: Attached frenulum or

Oh! I just found the photos on your other thread. He's just perfect. Thank you for posting pics, I'm delighted to 'meet' Oberon.

Congrats again.

 

[Circe]

Re: Attached frenulum or

Heheh - thanks, Jen! I should go over to the newborn thread now for a "proper" intro! But, yeah, I might be biased, but I think he's pretty fabulous.

 

[maiyavel]

Re: Attached frenulum or

I haven't had time to read through everyone's replies but I just wanted to say that my daughter (now 6 months) was tongue tied and had BF issues. She did well but could have been eating better. I went back and forth between clipping and not and finally around 6 weeks I went ahead and did it. She did not cry, and fed longer and sucked stronger immediately. Of my four (3.5, 16 mo, 2 mo twins) she was the most devoted to BF'ing. SHe would have gone on for a long time if I hadn't gotten pregnant again.
I was also concerned about speech issues later and truthfully given the ease of the procedure it feels silly that I ever pondered it. Again I'm not sure if this was already resolved but the post caught my eye!
Good Luck!