On feeding

[lnr]

So if he latches better he'll get richer milk, be more full (so need feeding less often) have less runny poo, and my oversupply should reduce making it easier to feed him in the first place. I just have to get him latching better :/

Will keep trying for another week with the assorted tips from breast feeding sessions and the nice lactation consultant at the Shelford baby group today - if we're still struggling then I'll ask my GP at his 6-8 week check if they can refer to have his (minor) tongue tie snipped. Don't want to resort to even very inordinate surgery unless I have to though.

Comments

[lizardc.livejournal.com]

This all sounds very very familiar. J had a tongue tie and I struggled with all the things you describe (oversupply, lots of feeding, runny nappies, bad latch, wind etc etc). We had his tongue tie snipped at 2 1/2 weeks (having fed before, I knew very early on that it wasn't right) and it made an immediate difference. 11 monthsl ater and we're still b/f.

We paid for it privately (Ann Dobson) as it was also causing me a lot of pain. I called her Friday and she came out Monday (and a bank holiday one at that). Cost £180. Not sure how long a GP referral takes but hearsay tells me that the earlier you get it done the better, as the they've had less time to learn bad feeding habits which they than have t try and unlearn again. If it's an easy toughie tie someone told me Addenbrookes do a weekly clinic, so that might be worth investigating. Depends on the type though (J has a posterior one which is harder to diagnose and snip).

The actual snipping really wasn't bad st all - very very quick (a matter of seconds). J cried but I fed him immediately and he was fine within a minute. and the bit of bleeding also stopped within a minute too.

[lizardc.livejournal.com]

Oh and ref your other comment, you are not doing it wrong!!! Having been through the same (also with constant feeding, exhaustion and lots of tears from me and screaming from J) I know exactly what it,s like and feel for you, I'm amazed you've made it through six weeks, so massive respect for that! I,d had enough after 2.5 until we got the tongue tie sorted. But like I said, I had the benefit of haing done it before and knowing what it SHOULD be like...

Hope you get if fixed soon, hang in there as you are doing a brilliant job!

[perdita-fysh.livejournal.com]

There seems to be a lot of tongue tie these days. It makes you wonder doesn't it? I'm really not sure on that one. I had problems in the early days with both of mine and I can see that either situation might have been diagnosed as tongue tie had I seen the right people, but I muddled through instead. Maybe if I'd had it diagnosed (if indeed that's what it was, no one ever checked) and snipped perhaps it would have been easier. I think there is also a 'growing into their ability to feed properly' element to it all too. All that struggling to get the latch right vanishes beyond a certain size when it all just fits better, and I found that happened much sooner with a bigger baby too so that kinda follows.

When you say less runny poo? You're a way off escaping poo-splosions yet *&)

Hope you get better latches whatever way works out. Have you tried biological nurturing (is that what it is called? I forget now). The one where you let them find the latch themselves while you lie back? I realised a long way in that I was doing that with Syd, but I hadn't consciously done it or tried it in the early days. They're supposed to be rather good at it from birth in theory. The practice isn't always like the theory though of course.

[ghoti.livejournal.com]

I wish I'd had my minor tongue tie snipped as a baby, it would have made my life as a teenager/adult easier. (I can't roll my rs or flutter tongue because of the tie.)