https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 09 Apr 2026 19:42:25 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/high-needs-colicky-acid-reflux-babies#post-1140423 Wed, 09 Oct 2013 12:12:50 +0000 met163 1140423@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Erinpye - I am in Seattle area and my little one has LT and probably PTT too. I have an appt for next week to have it lasered off down in portland (so hopefully my insurance will cover it! since I know it won't in Canada).</p> <p>Would you email me the people you used for post treatment - I'd love to have the bodywork done and also have a good lC.<br /> I can be reached at met163 (at) psualum (dot) com<br /> Thank you! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/high-needs-colicky-acid-reflux-babies#post-1125180 Wed, 02 Oct 2013 03:02:26 +0000 erinpye 1125180@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@AKM: yes! Glad to hear it and I second @grizz, do let us know what you find out! Also trust your gut: our pediatrician who I love and we still use, at my request looked for a tongue tie in our daughter and said she didn't have one, but also admitted he's not super educated in the matter, and mentioned we could absolutely get a second opinion. I opted for the second opinion. Our pediatrician was extremely interested in all we found out after getting LO diagnosed and treated. Don't be afraid to just double check with someone who has more knowledge in the area if you feel so inclined. Keep in mind that doctors don't get much training on the issue, unless they take a special interest, and that's usually more of an ENT or dentist thing. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/high-needs-colicky-acid-reflux-babies#post-1122770 Tue, 01 Oct 2013 06:53:32 +0000 Boheme 1122770@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@AKM: Good luck! Due to the advice of the awesome moms here on HB, my son's tongue tie and lip tie were revised. He is a MUCH happier baby! It saved our breastfeeding relationship. Let us know what you find out :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/high-needs-colicky-acid-reflux-babies#post-1122743 Tue, 01 Oct 2013 06:13:55 +0000 AKM 1122743@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@erinpye: thank you for your quick response! I found the FB group and found that there is a dentist on the provider list not too far from me. I think I'll talk to my pediatrician first, but now I know who to contact for the next step. Thank you! TT/LT never has come up before as a possible cause for the reflux, so thank you for sharing your story. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/high-needs-colicky-acid-reflux-babies#post-1122687 Tue, 01 Oct 2013 01:38:52 +0000 erinpye 1122687@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@AKM: yes! The group on FB is called Tongue Tie Babies Support Group. It's a closed group, but just ask to join and they'll add you. If you have trouble finding it- reply to this and let me know and I'll make sure you get to it.</p> <p>Just FYI, I was also told my daughter had no tongue tie and a minor lip tie that should "cause no problems." That was absolutely incorrect and false information. A lip tie DOES cause feeding problems, and further, a lip tie is nearly never seen without a corresponding tongue tie. The tongue tie accompanying a lip tie is usually a posterior tongue tie, which is harder to spot and diagnose, but still causes many issues. Check out the list of providers in the FB group and see if you're close enough to one to have them evaluate your baby, since they are much more educated on the matter, and in what to look for. It's a huge pain to get sorted, but so very worth it. Let me know if you have any more questions and good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/high-needs-colicky-acid-reflux-babies#post-1122684 Tue, 01 Oct 2013 01:33:33 +0000 erinpye 1122684@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@hilsy85: GREAT advice and I second everything you said. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/high-needs-colicky-acid-reflux-babies#post-1122683 Tue, 01 Oct 2013 01:31:06 +0000 erinpye 1122683@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@heyjanety: I just saw this- what's the latest? The lip tie will definitely cause problems if not revised. It's not easy getting baby to relearn to feed the proper way, but I highly recommend body work to loosen a tense jaw and body (we did 2 sessions of craniosachral therapy for our DD), and gently flip out the upper lip every time you feed baby. It takes time, try to remember it's the only way your babies have ever fed- even in utero, so it takes time. Xoxo. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/high-needs-colicky-acid-reflux-babies#post-1122536 Mon, 30 Sep 2013 21:16:40 +0000 AKM 1122536@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I wonder if this is our problem as we've had issues with spitting up, reflux, constant nursing (every 2 hrs during the day and 3-3.5hrs at night), and poor supply since the beginning. My son is now 8 months old and it's wearing me out. After reading your post, I took him to our hospital's IBCLC and she said no tongue tie, but a minor lip tie and to try Baby Led Weaning to get him to take more solids. I'm curious about a 2nd opinion so if you could let me know the FB group, I'd be grateful. After successfully breastfeeding 2 other kids, he has always been more work and I'm hoping there is some way to help us both get more sleep! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/high-needs-colicky-acid-reflux-babies#post-1069682 Fri, 06 Sep 2013 08:22:42 +0000 hilsy85 1069682@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@heyjanety: I completely disagree with your ped dentist...I mean think about it, your LO had 9 months in the womb and 3 months outside to learn how to use his tongue one way--it's not going to magically change overnight, especially not without help! And "eventually"--that can be a looong time when you're dealing with a stressful situation! I strongly suggest seeing a craniosacral therapist or at least asking your LC about exercises you can do at home. Is this the baby who had both the lip and tongue tie? Did you get them both clipped? I didn't get my LO's lip tie clipped (was WRONGLY told that it wouldn't affect nursing, still bitter about that), so that's why it might have taken extra time to get better. But 3 months is on the older side--your LO is used to using his mouth in a certain way, it'll take time to adjust. But hang in there!!</p> <p>I think you'll definitely get him back to the breast--think of it as a nursing strike, babies get through those too. Keep nursing/feeding while he's sleeping and relaxed, and I really believe that as he starts to feel better/eat more easily/be less gassy, he'll start eating better as well. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/high-needs-colicky-acid-reflux-babies#post-1069660 Fri, 06 Sep 2013 08:15:06 +0000 heyjanety 1069660@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@hilsy85 so about a wk or 2? I'm so impatient! I finally got him to nurse at 4:30 am PST and he sucked well but was still making do many clicking sounds. He barely nursed then promptly fell asleep. The ped dentist who did the lip revision told me that craniosacral therapy was a waste of my money bc my LO will eventually relearn how to properly use his tongue. </p> <p>My fear is that since he already turns away when I offer him my breast or a bottle is that he will develop a bad aversion. I can only get him to feed when he's asleep! But even then he only takes about half of what he used to. It hasn't even been a full 24 hrs I know, but I'm so worried he won't eat awake ever again. :(</p> <p>I used to be able to tandem nurse the twins. Play with them a bit and nap them. But the last 10 days has been pure misery bc my LO refuses to eat. And cries so much. It's just me alone during the day with the boys. So I'm desperate for them to go back to our usual routine. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/high-needs-colicky-acid-reflux-babies#post-1069627 Fri, 06 Sep 2013 08:02:52 +0000 hilsy85 1069627@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@heyjanety: I didn't deal with reflux, but my LO had a lip and tongue tie, and once it was clipped, it took a week or two to see improvements...he basically had to learn how to use his tongue properly to eat. The LC I saw gave me exercises to do with him to help him learn to stretch his tongue and put it in the proper place--do you have an LC you can meet with? Or a craniosacral therapist--I've heard great things about them as well. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/high-needs-colicky-acid-reflux-babies#post-1069596 Fri, 06 Sep 2013 07:50:13 +0000 MrsLilybugg 1069596@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@heyjanety: I don't have advice but wanted to.bump this.for you. I'm sorry you're having such a hard time with LO/feeding :-( </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/high-needs-colicky-acid-reflux-babies#post-1069409 Fri, 06 Sep 2013 04:35:20 +0000 heyjanety 1069409@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Hi! I just wanted to tell you how much your post helped me!! I have 3mo old fraternal twin boys and I just got their lip ties revised by laser yesterday.<br /> Do you mind if I ask you a few questions about what happened after the revision and dealing with your LOs reflux?<br /> Both boys had a class 4 lip tie and one also had a posterior tongue tie.<br /> I didn't realize that lip tie was something they had until just this week. My one twin has always had issues with latching and nursing. And I've always dealt with a low supply. But I just attributed it to the fact that I had twins. About a month ago my one son started to show signs if reflux and started to turn away from nursing and the bottle. Then suddenly 10 days ago he flat out refused to nurse or eat from a bottle. He would arch his back and start crying like crazy. I was going crazy trying to feed him and his brother. I could not understand how my usually very happy baby suddenly would not eat while awake. He would only eat when he was asleep. And he started to eat way less than his normal intake.<br /> I took him to the ped who prescribed Prevacid. And I started the meds a wk ago. But it didn't seem to help. He still refused to nurse or take a bottle.<br /> I just knew deep down that reflux just wasn't it. I contacted my LC and she told me to check his lip. And sure enough there was his lip tie. So I made an appt to get it lasered and drove the twins by myself for 2.5 hrs to get it taken care of.<br /> My question is, did you see improvement right away? I'm so stressed bc my son still will not eat!! I'm sooo stressed that he's already got a feeding aversion.<br /> I would love any piece of advice you can give about getting him to relearn how to eat and how to deal with tapering off his Prevacid.<br /> It's 2:30 in the morning and I'm up super stressed about his next feed. Im so worried he wont eat during his waking hrs like he used to. Please help!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/high-needs-colicky-acid-reflux-babies#post-357390 Wed, 24 Oct 2012 04:07:32 +0000 erinpye 357390@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Oh I am so glad! I also posted on my Facebook and had a friend message me that that post helped her figure out that her own daughter is LT/ TT. I just know how hard it is to have a colicky baby that won't settle and to know that relief was something so simple, after 6 months of pain for baby and me, made me want to spread the word however I can. I am amazed at the fact that immediately following revision, my LO sounded different when eating, grew an inch in a week and a half, and finally started to gain weight easier. She also is so much more content- I no longer am terrified of taking her out for fear of meltdowns. </p> <p>One other important thing I forgot to mention is that if TT and/ or LT is your issue, be sure once revision is complete, to also have what specialists call "bodywork" done. Because the babies that have TT and/ or LT can't use their mouths, jaws, and tongues correctly, they force their little bodies to compensate and can often end up with stiffness in their bodies, torticollis, and a very tight mouth that doesn't open very big. Bodywork is usually performed by an osteopath, craniosacral therapist, or even a chiropractor with infant experience. Infant experience is the key. Usually 1-2 sessions (the first within 48 hours of revision) are all that are needed. After we had a craniosacral therapist treat our LO, she loosened up a lot and began to open her mouth wider.</p> <p>Please, feel free to PM me if you want to know more, want to know where to find more research, etc. Keep pressing until you find a doctor or IBCLC who is very familiar with this and can definitively tell you either way if this is your child's issue. Best of luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/high-needs-colicky-acid-reflux-babies#post-357315 Wed, 24 Oct 2012 00:22:53 +0000 CupQuakeWalk 357315@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don't know if its relief , appreciation or my PP hormones...but this thread has me in years because maybe it's our solution. My son (and I) have literally every single symptom under baby&amp;mom symptoms. I called a LC today and she was with a client and told me she would call me tomorrow...so I hope we can get on the road to good breast feeding very soon!<br /> Thank you so so much for posting! I am so happy for you and your daughter that you were able to find the solution to help her. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/high-needs-colicky-acid-reflux-babies#post-356881 Tue, 23 Oct 2012 18:09:52 +0000 googly-eyes 356881@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Oh my goodness. So funny I should find this thread after you commented on mine regarding PPD. I have been doing research and think my LO has posterior tongue tie. We are not BF but even bottles take forever and her gas is crazy. I can hear all kinds of noises while she drinks. She is very fussy when I try to burp her and exhibits some reflux symptoms. We have a ped appt tomorrow, and I called a lactation specialist just to take a shot in the dark, and they referred me to a pediatrician who does the clipping, so if ours is no help, I'll take her to be evaluated by someone else.. Thanks for the post! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/high-needs-colicky-acid-reflux-babies#post-344093 Wed, 17 Oct 2012 06:44:29 +0000 Rubies 344093@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Wonderful! My LO was tongue-tied but I was lucky that our ped. noticed it immediately. From the get go, I was unable to breastfeed and when LO was 2 days old, her tongue was snipped and it was smooth sailing after that...Except that LO was also very colicky. But now at 14.5 months old, she's the happiest baby! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/high-needs-colicky-acid-reflux-babies#post-344035 Wed, 17 Oct 2012 01:27:04 +0000 erinpye 344035@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Hi everyone. I don't post on here very regularly, but I most recently did in reply to a thread about hating breastfeeding. That was a few weeks ago and I had nearly weaned my 6 month old, thinking I had a supply issue and that she just hated to breastfeed. I am posting here in hopes that I may help someone else like me, who suffered with an extremely colicky, hard to settle, difficult to nurse baby with acid reflux. It took 6 months to find out that my daughter was none of those things. I was able to save our breastfeeding relationship and have a much more content baby.</p> <p>If your baby is diagnosed with acid reflux, or having trouble breastfeeding or gaining, if he/ she seems to "self-wean" before the age of 1, or even if you notice the tongue has trouble lifting very far off the bottom of the mouth and the top lip is tight or curls under, be sure to have him/ her evaluated for tongue and lip ties by a knowledgeable specialist. No one looked for this in our daughter after multiple trips to 3 doctors and a Lactation Consultant regarding her "colic" and "acid reflux," and no one looked IN her mouth. When I suspected tongue tie, even our top-rated pediatrician told us that our daughter did not have a tongue tie and that her lip tie shouldn't affect feeding. I knew in my heart, after reading a TON of research, that this was the issue and it was causing her problems, and I had to fight everyone: the pediatrician, my husband, and my family, and call on specialists in Canada, New York, and Los Angeles. My daughter did have a class 4 lip tie and a hard to diagnose class 3 posterior tongue tie. (Lip ties almost always present with a posterior tongue tie.) I finally found an IBCLC who was very educated in the area and able to diagnose, and then we went to Canada to have a laser frenectomy performed (closest laser specialist to Seattle).</p> <p>She is immediately a different baby. She nurses to contentment, doesn't nurse around the clock anymore, sleeps well, actually takes naps longer than 45 minutes and I don't have to hold her while she sleeps, she is gaining better, is happier overall, and her acid reflux has vanished.</p> <p>Here are some symptoms of tongue and lip ties:</p> <p>Infant symptoms:<br /> No latch<br /> Un-sustained latch<br /> Slides off nipple<br /> Prolonged feeds<br /> Unsatisfied after prolonged feeds<br /> Falls asleep on the breast<br /> Gumming or chewing on the nipple<br /> Poor weight gain or failure to thrive<br /> Unable to hold pacifier </p> <p>Maternal symptoms:<br /> Creased or blanched nipples after feeding<br /> Flattened cracked, bruised or blistered nipples<br /> Nipple blanching or distortion<br /> Bleeding nipples<br /> Severe pain with latch<br /> Incomplete breast drainage<br /> Infected nipples<br /> Plugged ducts<br /> Mastitis &amp; nipple thrush<br /> Impact on milk supply<br /> Termination of breastfeeding<br /> Poor bonding between baby and mother<br /> Sleep deprivation<br /> Depression or a sense of failure</p> <p>Add to the above -<br /> Reflux/colic/gassy baby.<br /> Clicking noises while sucking, more notable during bottlefeeding<br /> Loud gulping noises<br /> Choking on milk or gasping for air mid-feed<br /> Noticeably strong suck<br /> Decreased saliva production<br /> Inability to effectively remove milk<br /> Milk dribbling out of the mouth during feeds </p> <p>Potential problems as baby grows:<br /> Disruption of normal oral development<br /> Difficulty eating solid foods<br /> Inability to chew age appropriate solid foods<br /> Gagging, choking or vomiting foods<br /> Persisting food fads<br /> Difficulties related to dental hygiene<br /> Persistence of dribbling<br /> Difficult or delayed speech development<br /> Severe tightness of the tongue and jaw may lead to restriction of joints and muscles in other areas of the body<br /> Deterioration in speech<br /> Behaviour problems<br /> Dental problems starting to appear<br /> Loss of self confidence because they feel and sound ‘different'<br /> Strong, incorrect habits of compensation being acquired</p> <p>The specific challenges an adult with a tongue tie may face include:<br /> Inability to open the mouth widely affects speech and eating habits<br /> Always having to watch their speech<br /> Inability to speak clearly when talking fast/loud/soft<br /> Difficulty talking after even moderate amounts of alcohol<br /> Clicky jaws<br /> Pain in the jaws<br /> Migraine<br /> Protrusion of the lower jaws, inferior prognathism<br /> Multiple effects in work situations<br /> Effects on social situations, eating out, kissing, relationships<br /> Dental health, a tendency to have inflamed gums, and increased need for fillings and extractions<br /> Sensitivity about personal appearance<br /> Emotional factors resulting in rising levels of stress<br /> Tongue tie in the elderly often makes it difficult to keep a denture in place<br /> Gastric problems<br /> Poor swallowing and a risk of anterior open bite<br /> Mouth breathing and a propensity to allergies<br /> Open mouthed posture associated with an imbalance in skeletal structure<br /> Restricted (dental) arch development, and facial development </p> <p>Tongue ties and lip ties are not uncommon and it is estimated that a least 10-15% of the population have them. They are also genetic (gaps between the two front teeth due to lip ties run in my family).</p> <p>The main authority on the matter is a doctor in Albany, NY named Larry Kotlow, and his website is an absolute wealth of information. You can go to <a href="http://www.kiddsteeth.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.kiddsteeth.com</a> and click on "articles" on the left. There is also a support group on Facebook with lots of IBCLCs and doctors as members (even Dr. Kotlow is a member), as well as many TT and LT parents. It's a huge support and a wealth of information and if you would like the link, PM me. (It's a private group in the interest of true support for medical needs, but you will be accepted if you ask to join.)</p> <p>I am now passionate about this issue and think it's a shame that so many medical professionals are still in the dark when it comes to both diagnosing and treating tongue ties and lip ties. If your child has one and you've been told it will go away, or it shouldn't affect breastfeeding, that is not true. If you had one clipped and were not instructed to do stretching exercises 3-5 times per day for 3 weeks afterward, chances are it has reattached. If you believe your child could have these issues, please see a skilled knowledgeable IBCLC or specialist with a lot of experience treating and diagnosing them. There is a list of skilled providers available in the FB support group I mentioned.</p> <p>Just hoping to save other mothers from months of pain. xoxo. </p>