Hellobee Boards

Good for you for getting this done!!! Our LO had her lip released at 5 days, and TT at 10 weeks. Did baby get ties released with laser or a scalpel?

1. How long after your LOs frenectomy did nursing feel "normal"? -- It took about 10 days-2 weeks. About 2 weeks after the procedure, I just realized my nipples weren't bright red or hurting me.

2. Did your ENT, doctor, or LC suggest any exercises or things to do to help nursing? -- Here's our doc's site. He's known across the US. Tons of great information: http://www.drghaheri.com/ We did do exercises each night ... basically rubbing and stretching the areas where the ties were released. We used Hyland's Teething Gel.

3. Any other tips or advice you can give me to help us be successful? I so desperately want breastfeeding to work out and I have to go back to work in 2 weeks! -- I feel for you, mama!!! Baby has established some bad habits (due to the ties), so it just takes a bit for baby to develop new habits. I remember my LC recommending really focusing on the latch. Moving LOs mouth around until it was just right.

You have to be a lot more careful with the scalpel procedures ... just a higher chance of them reattaching. Did they give you the stretching exercises to do? If not, I can find specific links/videos for you.

I know plenty of people who were successful with the scalpel!! Our doc uses the laser, but he did the scalpel for years with good success.

Was this a tie specialist? Sorry for all of the questions. You definitely don't want to wait for it to heal (as mouth wounds heal very quickly, and these ties want to reattach).

Here's the info for aftercare: http://www.drghaheri.com/aftercare/

We did the exercises a few times a day ... maybe before every feeding? I always was sure to wash my hands really well (and ensure my nails were cut short).

My LO's lip partially reattached, but thankfully, it wasn't enough to permanently mess with her latch.

@Boopers: That day. The only difference is that with the laser, it doesn't bleed. Oh goodness!! One sec. Let me reach out to a different mama group (of his patients) to see what he recommended back when he used the scalpel. We used teething gel during the exercises to help eliminate any pain.

DS had both at 5 days. Honestly, it didn't do anything for the pain I had. Things didn't get better until he was 3.5 months. We didn't do any sort of follow up excercises, but I wish we had. No one talked to us about them and in my FTM haze, I didn't even think about looking deeper into the issue. I hope you get some relief soon, BF pain is just excruciating!

Hi there! I know how you feel, as my son had both a posterior tongue tie and upper lip tie. We had an ENT clip both when he was about 3 weeks old. Unfortunately, we were never able to create a nursing relationship, despite so much effort! It was a long 2 months of emotions, tears, frustration, and feelings of failure before I decided to exclusively pump.

1. How long after your LOs frenectomy did nursing feel "normal"?
Unfortunately, I was unable to nurse my son, as he never latched. I had my LC visit multiple times after his tongue-tie procedure, and she was kind of at a loss with our situation and didn't really know how to guide me. She suggested using a SNS system, but it was complicated and so hard. I opted to pump exclusively.

2. Did your ENT, doctor, or LC suggest any exercises or things to do to help nursing?

LC suggested using the nipple shield. It sort of worked for us, but I couldn't wean my son from it.

3. Any other tips or advice you can give me to help us be successful?

My best advise for you is to cut yourself some slack. I totally understand how you feel. I desperately wanted to nurse as well, and when it wasn't happening, I was very depressed. I felt like a failure.

Just remember a happy baby is a fed baby. Your goal should be to make sure your child is fed, full, and satisfied. Pumping is another option and so is supplementing with formula.

I'm sending lots of hugs and good vibes to you. I hope you find success! Know that you are NOT alone!

My LO had her lip and tongue tie released at 15 weeks and we had to do mouth exercises to keep it from reattaching.
It was done by a dentist and they referred us back to our LC to "learn how to breastfeed" it started feeling normal about 3 days after the release.

Have you gone back to your LC yet?