Tongue tie

[Knomester]

Sorry to hear you haven't got the appointment yet Moos - I do hope you get an appointment next week as I know all too well how difficult the wait can be...

I've finally finished writing up all the bits of info I've gleaned from our experience over the past 11 weeks here - hopefully some of it will help: http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?29,570543

[Gussy]

That's excellent Knomester, well done for getting it all down and for continuing to breastfeed, amazing! I really think we should get all this out there somewhere, in a blog or something where it's all in one place and easy to find. I so wish all this information was freely available BEFORE you have a baby, so you at least have some idea of how to approach problems if they arise. I think I would have rather talked/known about this kind of thing than the 4-5 hours of info on labour that you get in ante-natal classes.

Its good in a way that Google picks out the EDF in the first page of its results normally, so people searching for a key word can usually stumble upon this forum and its invaluable advice.

[Princess]

Good luck Moos. We had a really bad start with b'feeding. We were both riddled with thrush and when I eventually got diagnosed by the wonderful Katie Fisher she discovered a tongue tie too. I wanted to see if when we got the thrush under control it would help with the feeding. It did, my son was thriving and subsequently I didn't have the frenulectomy. However, 11 months on I am beginning to feel that maybe I should have. My son has had a real problem with profuse dribbling since he was 5 weeks old and this is all to do with his tongue tie. I'm now really struggling with the decision as to whether to do it now, or hope the dribbling improves the more teeth he gets. If I'd have been better educated as to other possible side effects would I have made a different choice - possibly.

Px

[Knomester]

Thanks Gussy :-) I agree that antenatal classes are weighted far too heavily towards labour and the breastfeeding classes I attended sadly didn't cover any of the issues we've faced.

[alieh]

It is crazy that there is a 5 hour breastfeeding workshop on offer as part of the ante-natal classes out there but that it doesn't cover ANY of the issues I and others faced when breastfeeding. All I remember from the workshop is the video at the beginning where the woman is skiing and then opens her ski jacket to reveal a BFing baby, a discussion about how much alcohol you can drink while breastfeeding, and a demonstration about how to feed lying down. It seemed more like a propaganda session to convince you to breastfeed when, really, most of the people who took 5 hours out of their day to learn about breastfeeding had probably already decided they wanted to give it a go and would really benefit from more in-depth information about the problems that can occur and where do go for help if they do.

[Knomester]

Hear Hear Alieh!

[Countjc]

I went to the workshop and remember there being a bit on tongue tie and thrush but stupidly didnt listen or baby brain forgot about it. It strikes me that there are so many of us in this quite small community that have been through these tough experiences and I wonder how common it is nationally and how much support there is.

Gussy mentioned putting some sort of blog up and the post that Knomester has put up is amazing. I would definately like to get involved in spreading the word and helping out other women. I got the sense that a lot of the GPs hadn't had much experience in dealing with tongue tie and all the various symptoms- my surgery were quite greatful when I turned up with a leaflet from the Breastfeeding Network about it all.

[mandymaz]

Just to add another experience of tongue tie...my son was diagnosed with tongue tie at 5 weeks and had the op at Kings two weeks later at seven weeks. It was purely chance that one of the midwives that we saw in Kings noticed it and referred me to Clare, the infant feeding specialist. This probably wouldn't have happened if we hadn't stayed in for so long (for unrelated issues) as we saw so many midwives.

Before the op feeds were lasting up to 2.5 hours, loads of milk would spill out and it was really painful and felt like he was chomping down hard all the time. This resulted in him being hungry all the time and me not getting any sleep! He could hardly latch onto the right hand side at all unless I held him in the rugby ball position, so his body was round my side - inconvenient in public!

The op was really successful, if a long and stressful wait in hospital with a starving, screaming baby. It was instantly better - he could latch on to the right hand side straight away and the feed times decreased dramatically to around 45 mins. I would say that it probably took us to about 12 weeks to get it spot on.

He's now six and a half months and we're still going strong although thankfully during the day feeding for only around 10 mins at a time every 3-4 hours or so. The nights...? Well, that's another story!

[Moos]

Yawn.... very, very unsettled night last night when Twosling kept insisting he hadn't had enough, and he wasn't tired... but anyway we are scheduled for the tongue tie correction today, which I'm dreading but also have high hopes of. Wish us luck..

[Knomester]

Best of luck Moos... It's not nice hanging around all afternoon with screaming babies, or seeing your little one after the procedure, but you can be sure they don't remember a thing and the minute they're latched on (seconds after the procedure) Twosling will be content and all will be forgotten. In my experience it's Mum who will be far more anxious and upset :-) I'm sure it will all go well and you'll be on the road to better and better feeding.

[charlottep]

Good luck Moos!

[Moos]

Hi folks

Just to close our story, we had the snip last Tuesday. I was absolutely dreading it, and certainly the long wait in a hot and chaotic room full of crying babies didn't help the sense of dread. The babies are seen in ascending order of age, so we were among the lucky early ones. I really felt for the babies (and their parents) over a few months old, who may have had a 3-hour fasting wait after the beginning of the clinic. After a general address to the crowd by the surgeon, we each went individually into the clinic where the surgeon examines the baby and discusses pros and cons of the operation with each parent. It's worth noting that they are super-careful to ensure you have full information and are the one making the choice to go ahead or not. We were diagnosed with a mild posterior tongue tie, and although the surgeon told me 80% of babies in this case show improvement after having the operation, he was so neutral in his manner that I almost wondered if he was trying to talk me out of it.

The mother is then sent next door to wait for the baby (dads are kicked out to the corridor, poor things) and after about a minute your baby is brought through. Twosling was crying and had a tiny amount of blood in his mouth, but it was far less than I had imagined and he immediately fed and cheered up a bit. He was a bit grumpy for a couple of days, but otherwise well. His feeding gradually improved over the next few days and above all he has now started to gain weight again, yippee. At nearly 4 weeks, he's just about at his brother's birth weight, poor little prawn. Also, on my part the pain is almost gone, and the damage healing.

We went to see the infant feeding specialist today, and she found that there is a little regained tightness in his mouth, so I will have to be sure to keep up massaging his tongue, in case the tie returns - God forbid.

So overall a real success and such a relief. Now I just need to wait for the magic day when he starts to go 4 hours between night feeds... zzzzzzzzzzzzzz. So tired!

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

So pleased for you Moos - I was anxiously awaiting news!

[GinaG3]

Yay Moos, thats brilliant news. Hope you have many happy times feeding now :-)

Shame about some ladies having to wait too long, will have to find out more about the process at clinic.

And, correct about the massage it is very important to do so..

Good luck.

[Knomester]

Great news Moos :-)

Do keep up the massage as they can grow back so quickly as Baby Knomesters started to do.

[Moos]

I also meant to say a huge thank-you to all the King's people - they were great, especially Claire Kedves, but also the midwives/breastfeeding counsellors at the clinic and the doctors and nurses. And a big thank-you too to all the people who've offered their support and experience on this thread - makes a world of difference.

xMoos