Having an upper lip and posterior lip tie repaired?

[jessnic]

Sorry this is long, I need to vent!

For the past 6 weeks I have struggled to breastfeed my son. When he is feeding he is fussy, has a hard time getting latched, and then falls off repeatedly. He falls asleep at the breast frequently after marathon nursing, only to wake up again shortly starving. I took him see LC's who said his latch was fine, it must be my supply. I asked his pediatricians to check for tongue tie, they said he was not because he could lift his tongue. I thought his upper lip looked funny, but they swore it was perfectly normal and nothing that would impact breastfeeding. I went to my OB to see why my supply was low, ended up on Reglan which was a disaster! I have battled my nipples being compressed, creased, broken, blistered, mastitis, and painful vasospasms. Nursing him in public was not an option, as he nursed for over an hour each time, could not stay latched and screamed out of frustration. I was ready to give up, and my supply was so low I was only able to pump 1/2 oz after 3 hours. Well we went on a roadtrip and I pumped 90% of the time and my supply went up over the week. I got home and went back to nursing and my supply went right back down. I cried so hard it was terrible. I was playing on here and saw a thread about upper lip tie and when I clicked the link to the pictures I immeadiately saw an upper lip tie that looked like my sons upper lip. From there I found a link about posterior tongue ties and it appeared again just like my sons tongue. I took him back to the pediatrician today to see the doctor that specializes in breastfeeding and sure enough she recognized the lip and tongue tie immeadiately! Two LC's, two peds, and my OB all looked to for tongue tie and missed it. He is going to a pediatric dentist Tuesday who specializes in tongue ties to see if his can be corrected. I am currently producing 80% of his milk by pumping constantly in addition to feeding him.

If your child had a tongue tie and lip tie repaired did you see improvements? If you had supply issues did it get better?

[mevans]

I'm in the process of trying to see an oral surgeon...I'm SO hoping they are "on our side" and clip my DD's upper lip tie and posterior tongue tie. Otherwise, we likely won't be breastfeeding past a few months, because of not having enough stimulation to have a good enough supply. (My 5 year old DS still nurses occasionally....I was not planning to just nurse DD2 for a few months!!!)

I gave hugs in our DDC, but I'll give them here again.

I hope you and I both have our issues resolved soon!

[jessnic]

Have you checked with pediatric dentists to see if any of them can do it? They might get you in faster?

I never thought I would have to consider weaning but the vasospasms hurt worse than contractions. They rip me out of my sleep at night, they make it hurt to hug my husband, and at times it is excruciatingly painful to even hold my son. It was always my intention to let my son wean himself, it breaks my heart that nursing has been so awful for us. I did get one useful strategy from my lactation consultant after she knew what I was battling. She said to place warm compresses on my nipples as much as possible between nursing sessions to keep circulation in that area. It does help manage the brusing and dull ache.

[SenoraE]

I am going through the struggle of finding someone to work on DS' upper lip tie. Dentists around here all say he has to be 5 or 6 YEARS old for them to do it in the office. Ha. Don't think that will help with nursing. One said to call a pediatric ENT to have it done earlier. He also said it would be a LOT better if an ENT did it because it would be covered under insurance (we have medical but NO dental). HTH!

[Leocaligirl]

My best friend just figured out her 3 month old was tongue tied. She has it clipped and noticed the difference immediately. Her son was finally able to latch properly. Good luck Mama. I hope you get it all figured out.

[jessnic]

We had his upper lip and his tongue both clipped and it is a world of difference! He not only can latch right but we are seeing an improvement in his reflux symptoms too.

[aumismommy]

Originally Posted by jessnic We had his upper lip and his tongue both clipped and it is a world of difference! He not only can latch right but we are seeing an improvement in his reflux symptoms too.

Yay so glad. DS had an upper lip tie and tongue tie that didn't get found until he was 5 MONTHS OLD!!!!! But we DID find it and got both clipped and life is MUCH BETTER now. It took awhile to get my supply back up, and I still take a bunch of stuff to keep it going, but he's 13 months now. I just feel like he missed those first 5 months of nursing really well so I want him to nurse as long as he wants. Glad your lo is doing better.