Breastfeeding advice for a friend

[salliekate]

I know I'm mostly a lurker, but I was hoping some of you would chime in with some breastfeeding advice for my friend. She's been trying to BF for a month. Pedi says the baby has mild tongue tie but doesn't think there will be any benefit to clipping it. Mom is having a ton of pain while bfing. She's been to several LCs and still hasn't found anything that works. What say you, wise MMM?

[zarapipe]

Nipple shield. She should try it. Dd1 had a bad latch that no lc could fix. No pain with the sheild.

This time I am on the shield again but bc of a fast letdown that dd2 can't handle unless I'm mostly empty at the end of the day. I have a love hate relationship with the sheild. It had saved bf two times with me but is a pita.

[salliekate]

Dec 18, 2014 20:00:48 GMT -5 zarapipe said:

Nipple shield. She should try it. Dd1 had a bad latch that no lc could fix. No pain with the sheild.

This time I am on the shield again but bc of a fast letdown that dd2 can't handle unless I'm mostly empty at the end of the day. I have a love hate relationship with the sheild. It had saved bf two times with me but is a pita.

She tried a shield and said the baby sucked her nipple/skin through the hole. 

[DarcyLongfellow]

Get the tongue clipped. No question in my mind. Both my girls had the procedure done, and for both of them the LC at the hospital said it was "mind," but the doctor who clipped their tongues said it was NOT mild and needed to be done. Get it done asap!

In the mean time, I'd suggest a nipple shield. How is her skin going THROUGH the holes?? Is she using the Medela one? Like this:

www.target.com/p/medela-24mm-contact-nipple-shield/-/A-10953414?ref=tgt_adv_XSG10001&AFID=google_pla_df&LNM=10953414&CPNG=Baby&kpid=10953414&LID=9pgs&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=10953414&kpid=10953414&gclid=CjwKEAiAk8qkBRDOqYediILQ5BMSJAB40A5U9SlISJWLa2DPWgyaFQ0s2aNp45Tl_VieZ91Cx0ZrSxoCH_jw_wcB

[andthentherewere10]

I would say that a pedi is not the best qualified at Dx a tongue tie.

www.drghaheri.com/blog/2014/3/22/rethinking-tongue-tie-anatomy-anterior-vs-posterior-is-irrelevant

[Deleted]

If she has pain, then the tongue tie is having a negative impact and cutting it will help.

She should doctor shop until someone cares and will fix it.

[zarapipe]

Dec 18, 2014 20:11:30 GMT -5 salliekate said:

Dec 18, 2014 20:00:48 GMT -5 zarapipe said:

Nipple shield. She should try it. Dd1 had a bad latch that no lc could fix. No pain with the sheild.

This time I am on the shield again but bc of a fast letdown that dd2 can't handle unless I'm mostly empty at the end of the day. I have a love hate relationship with the sheild. It had saved bf two times with me but is a pita.

She tried a shield and said the baby sucked her nipple/skin through the hole. 

Omg that sounds horrific. I would have an ent look at the tounge then.

[mae141]

Dec 18, 2014 20:11:30 GMT -5 salliekate said:

Dec 18, 2014 20:00:48 GMT -5 zarapipe said:

Nipple shield. She should try it. Dd1 had a bad latch that no lc could fix. No pain with the sheild.

This time I am on the shield again but bc of a fast letdown that dd2 can't handle unless I'm mostly empty at the end of the day. I have a love hate relationship with the sheild. It had saved bf two times with me but is a pita.

She tried a shield and said the baby sucked her nipple/skin through the hole. 

Nipple shields come in different sizes; she probably needs to try another size. 

The lc at my pedi says there's usually no reason to clip a tongue tie unless it's causing a problem with BFing. It sounds like this is a problem with BFing. 

Also, it took me until about 6 weeks to not have pain. I saw a few LCs, the pedi said no tongue tie (although I found out later she actually did have one). I think once DDs mouth got a little bigger she was better able to latch and things got much better. 

[undecidedowl]

I was in that same spot with DS1. I used a shield and dealt with a lot of pain/bleeding/cracked nipples and just waited it out until DS's mouth got bigger and things improved. I'm not sure to what extent she means that the baby sucked her nipple through the shield, but every time I took the shield off there were little dot shapes on my nipple where it was being pulled through the holes. It was still better for me than no shield. I would say to try to see a specialist about the tongue tie. Otherwise, time may help as the baby's mouth continues to get bigger. What do the LC's think about the tie?

[salliekate]

Thanks so much, everybody! I asked her what the LCs think about the tie, but she hasn't gotten back to me. I told her to see an ENT or another pedi for a second opinion and sent her the link to the other nipple shield. I think just knowing others have been here too is helping her.

[jewel]

Mine has a mild upper lip tie, which may or may not have contributed to our breastfeeding hell for the first week. Neither the ped, LC, or feeding specialist thought that cutting it would significantly help with nursing. He wasn't getting enough to eat and I had bloody nipples. I quit, switched to exclusively pumping, and we were both much happier. I still tried to put him to the breast a couple times per week, and he'd latch for a few seconds, then quit.

Until....one day last week (at 3 months). He latched, ate for 15 minutes, and passed out. He's been nursing full time again since then, and it's been a million times easier than our first week. I really think he just needed to have a bigger mouth and better coordination and strength.

I don't have any tips to actually help with breastfeeding right now, but I did want to say that if pumping is something she is interested in and able to do, it does not at all mean their breastfeeding journey is over. If no other approaches work, pumping just until the baby is a little older and better able to nurse, may work too.