My baby is now 3.5 weeks old, and I have not yet been able to get her to nurse successfully. Because of a dangerously slow weight gain, I went to see a lactation consultant a day before she was three weeks old. Her posterior tongue-tie was discovered, and I went to the ENT the next day to have it clipped. Since her frenulum has been clipped, I have noticed no difference in her ability to nurse.
Yesterday and today I have taken my daughter to a suck-swallow specialist. The specialist feels that my daughter has improved in sucking technique since yesterday, but again, she is removing almost no milk from me when nursing. I currently have to pump and bottle-feed.
Today someone suggested that my daughter may need her frenulum clipped again. Her tongue is no longer stuck to the bottom of her mouth, and I cannot see any remaining frenulum. Is it possible that a second clip would make a difference? I have heard of others who needed a second clip.
Do any you have any experience with a posterior tongue-tie and needing a second clip? Have any of you had a baby who took some time to learn to nurse after having the frenulum clipped around three weeks of age?
We worked through the problems, and my daughter started nursing exclusively at 6.5 weeks. I'm so excited!
I don't really have any information on being tongue tied, but my son did not nurse well at first either. He did not have anything wrong with his tongue but he never did nurse from my breast alone. The lactation consultant I saw gave me a nipple shield that made my breast feel more like a bottle nipple and he nursed great from that day until 15 months. You might want to try that and see if it helps her nurse better. Good luck.
You may need to adjust the baby's positioning to help her latch. It may be that she's so used to her inefficient latch/positioning/suckling from not being able to properly nurse for so long (due to the tongue tie) that it will take her time to "get it."
But I'd suggest getting the book "Breastfeeding with Comfort and Joy," because I think it will be able to help in this situation. The author, a Family Nurse Practitioner with 20 years experience, has been able to help hundreds if not thousands of women breastfeed. She has said that while a baby may be helped with getting the frenulum clipped, she's been able to get many babies diagnosed with tongue-tie to successfully nurse even without clipping. So I think her book would help you and your baby, too.
Yes, it can sometimes happen that they need further clipping. I'd talk to your pediatrician and see if they can refer you to somebody who can check it out. My daughter was tongue tied and we never did manage to BF successfully, but I do know of others who did finally get there after a lot of work. Hang in there! And keep up the pumping to maintain your supply. Feel free to message me if you need any info/support. I feel for you!!
Hello
You need to get an oral-motor speech evaluation from a Speech Pathologist that has experience with infants. You can locate one by internet through the American Speech and Hearing Assoc. More than likely the frenulum has nothing to do with your child's nursing weakness. Also, the bottle is less work than nursing for your child to receive milk, and your child may have found that the bottle is easier and doesn't want to work at breast feeding. Just remain calm, but it would be good to have this researched if you are concerned. K. Thorson Gruhn, MA CCC-SLP
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