Little Bug was born with a posterior tongue tie and at 16 weeks, he had a corrective procedure done to release the tie. We are approaching the one year mark of finding out he had the tie, and I wanted to update how we are doing with the tie now.
We have now passed one year of breastfeeding and we are still going strong. He nurses once in the morning, sometimes at lunch time, once when I get home from work, once after shower/bath and before bed. He usually still nurses at least twice during the night, although if he is teething, sick, or just upset, he will nurse more often overnight. His latch is still not as great as I would like, but he does well transferring the milk, so I am not too worried about it. One of the classic signs of a posterior tongue tie is a heart shaped tip of the tongue. Little Bug still has this, and it took him until a month ago to really start using his tongue a lot. He is finally blowing raspberries and using his tongue to make other noises. It almost seems like he is finally figuring out how to manipulate his tongue around in his mouth.
There is some concern about his speech being affected, and so far we would have no idea because he refuses to actually use words. He communicates with us with a series of grunts and squeals, but he gets his point across. He definitely understands what we are saying to him, so I do wonder if his tongue is making it difficult for him to form some words. I have a standing appointment scheduled with a speech therapist at the end of the year to check him if he still hasn’t started talking yet. I’m not really that worried yet, and I think that if nothing else, having some extra help will not harm him if we end up taking him to the speech therapist.
As far as eating solid food goes, he is an absolute champ. He seems to have no trouble whatsoever with moving food in and around his mouth. He tackles just about anything we give him and doesn’t seem to be struggling at all with eating. He has learned to use a straw and a Munchkin cup, as well as a standard sippy cup. In looking at where the tie actually is, I can see that there is some reattachment. Again, I am not too worried about it and it doesn’t seem to be affecting anything at this point, so we are just going to watch and see how it goes. If he shows signs of struggling with eating or drinking, I will not hesitate to take him back in to the doctor.
I do not regret having the procedure done and I am 100% sure that if I had not had it done, we would not be breastfeeding to this day. I feel so lucky to have had a leading specialist so close by that could do the procedure and was also available for me to contact any time. I actually wrote a long and very sappy email to him a few weeks ago thanking him for what he is doing and for making my breastfeeding relationship with Little Bug possible for this long!
Did your little one have a tongue tie? Did it affect them in any way?
guest
Great to hear your story. My son, now 11 months old, also had posterior tongue tie and also lip tie that we had laser cut at 6 weeks old – after suffering from terrible breastfeeding pains and resorting to exclusive pumping. Despite having it cut, he never went back to the breast. Even after the appointment, they encouraged me and told me he would go back but he never did. My LC said he could have associated negative feelings toward the breast after having so much trouble. I had 3 LCs and not one could understand why he wouldn’t go back. Ultimately, a short few weeks later, we discovered he had milk protein allergy and this mama was not going to give up her cheese! He’s been on a very expensive formula and as much as my mommy guilt kicked me in the butt for it, I know it was the right thing and ultimately feel like it was a sign that it was okay to “let go” of all the bonding moments I had envisioned breastfeeding. It was just a lot for me and for him to refuse the breast…ugh…that stung but he’s thriving and saying mama and babbling all the time. We are so glad we got them both cut at the time we did. He still hasn’t managed how to use a sip cup (not with the regular spout, not with a straw and definitely not with the munchkin cup one). He just chews on the spout and straw so I’m at a loss there. I’m hoping he gets it sometime soon…I give him all three in his pack and play haha.
blogger / persimmon / 1225 posts
Both of my little guys had tongue ties (anterior ones I believe) that were clipped in the hospital right away. Chip’s was so thick they sent us to an ENT to get it clipped again a week after birth. I also feel like it was very beneficial to our BF relationship to have them clipped!
guest
Both my guys had TT. And each were snipped within the first week of life for better latch during breastfeeding. My second son was only two days old and already his latch had me nearly raw – it was 100% tie. Out of curiosity is there a reason for waiting? Here in the UK most babies are done very young (midwives check for a tie at birth) and the procedure can be done by anyone qualified to do it (not just dr’s). So glad we had it done in both cases – dramatically improved breastfeeding!
blogger / kiwi / 626 posts
@ Michelle: I’m so sorry your experience wasn’t what you were hoping for. I would have a really hard time giving up cheese too!
@Mrs. Cookie: I’m pretty convinced that LeLe has a tie too, but it just wasn’t diagnosed because there was no one around at that time that knew what to look for in my pediatricians office.
@Brieanne Doyle: We initially had Little Bug’s tie clipped in the hospital, but it didn’t really do anything. We went months with me losing my mind and him barely gaining any weight before a pediatrician suggested that it was still tied and sent us to an ENT. We had to wait a month to get in, then had the procedure done.