Tongue Tied - Beloit, WI

I had problems with that with my little boy. For three months he wouldn't latch on correctally. I talked with a lactation sp. and she gave me these medela nipple shelds. Once I started using them they worked great! They are soft plastic and they stick out so when you put it in the babies mouth it feels like a bottle. Now he is fine and I've stopped using them.
You can get them from target.
Hope that helps

When I had my daughter she was 3 weeks early and I couldn't get her to latch. I pumped and bottle fed her for nine months. It was frusterating at first but then I figured pumping was what was working and she was still getting the nutrients which was the most important thing. Good luck and hang in there!

Hi M. T my name is LeighAnne i also live in farmington. i have a 16 month old and i am 7 months pregnant. with my son it was a never ending battle to get him to nurse. it took a while but once we were both comfortable and relaxed it was enjoyable and i bfed for 8 months with him. All i can say to you is hang in if she still won't latch keep pumping away so atleast she's getting your milk one way or another. good luck!

My daughter had the same situation. She was operated on at Children's at 2 weeks. The operation was very quick and easy. She came out and fed immediately. Although she never went back to breastfeeding, I did pump for the next 9 months. My pediatrician said some babies will refuse to breast feed after bottle feeding - it is easier for them. She was one who refused.
She is healthy and happy and almost 2 now.
Hang in there! Your little girl will be just fine!

Oh my God, yes! How frustrating! Good for you that you're sticking through it; it will get better! BOTH my boys were tongue tied (thanks to my genes). I noticed the moment my first was born and the ped in the delivery room said, no, it looks fine. Well, I knew better than that, but didn't want to undermine a Dr. so I did nothing about it and suffered thru bouts of bad breastfeeding. Then my second son was born and I had a horrible time nursing him, too and took him to an ENT Dr. who snipped it right in his office. Unfortunately, he was accustomed to nursing the "wrong" way and it took some work and a little pain to continue nursing him. My oldest son was 18 mos when the younger one got his clipped and I decided to the older one's done, too. Because of his age and the thickening of the tissue, he had to go under at the hospital for his procedure. I highly recommend doing it NOW rather than later! Double check your eldest, also. Trust me. My dad wouldn't let me get mine done and my mom finally took me to get mine snipped at age 17. Ick. And I talk with a slight lisp at times, although that's gone away a lot since having it done 11 years ago. Much easier to do it now while it's thin and short. It is hereditary, my little half-sister had it and I convinced my step-mom (who was in horrible pain nursing) to get it when she was 7 mos old. Just keep introducing the breast, pump if she won't take it, and see a lac consultant if you continue to have problems. Good luck. You're doing the right thing.
C.

My Daughter Sarah (now 18 months) couldn't nurse at all for the first 2 1/2 weeks of her life. I could only pump and give her bottles. I saw a few different lactation consultants and dr's and they told me either I didn't know what I was doing or she just didn't know how to suck yet since she was born early. I finally started to research on the internet and brought the info from the AAP into the dr to tell him what the problem was. We got her tongue clipped the next day and she was a champion nurser for over a year. It was the best decision we made for her at that point. Good for you for sticking with nursing! Sarah could take bottles just fine so if I had given up on breastfeeding we never would have known there was a problem until years later when she had major speech problems.

I've had two kids now with this problem. Both times it caused bad nursing problems. With my first, I was hesitant to get it clipped, but with the second I got it clipped on her second day. The procedure is no big deal, and neither of my kids have had any problems after having it done. Hopefully, your nursing issues will clear up after this, but it may be too late to get her back to doing it.

Hi M.,

We had the same problem with our son being tongue tied when he was a new born (he just turned 12 weeks). No one ever said anything at the hospital. It was a dr. at an urgent care who mentioned something about his being tongue-tied to us. He was jaundiced and getting worse and not getting enough milk and losing weight which was complicating things. He just was not latching on properly and wasn't getting enought milk. After meeting with a lacation consultant at Woodwinds, we had his tongue clipped by his peditrician. It took about a week but he finally latched and started nursing and gaining back his weight.

He's now nursing away just fine. And that's after having to supplement with formula in a bottle at the age of 1 week and using a nipple shield to help transition back to the breast. The lacation consultant I met with at Woodwinds was an angel in helping me. I couldn't have gotten this far without her help earlier on.

If you haven't already met with a lactation consultant, I would recommend that you do so. Other than that, you'll just need to be patient with her. She's smart and will learn quickly enough that she can feed easily at the breast here shortly. Good luck.

I would ask her pediatrician today for a lactation consulntant referral, if you aren't already doing that. It sounds like you are doing everything possible by pumping and hanging in there. You can also check out the LaLeche league website. I think you can fill out a form and someone local will help you. Good Luck Hang in there!

Hi M.,
Yes! We went through this. Our four month old son was tongue-tied at birth. I noticed it the second they plopped the little guy on my chest. We had it clipped when he was four days old and I'm sure he would have had lots of trouble nursing, laughing, etc. if we didn't. It was a very obvious tongue-tie. I'm so sorry that you didn't get the information and support you needed right away. When our guy was born, his doctor was on vacation and we had a hard time finding an MD at our clinic who would perform the procedure. We ended up going to an ear, nose and throat specialist who was AWESOME. Good luck and I'm sure you'll notice a difference soon. Don't worry if you don't notice an immediate change. I was told it can either be immediate or take a little time. Be patient.