Posterior tongue tie

Wow that is interesting!

interesting stuff! i have a tongue tie, but it didn't cause any trouble with feeding when i was little. glad there is info like this out there as i am wondering if baby will have a tongue tie or not - had no idea whether or not it is hereditary. thanks for posting!

That would be great. I was going to wait until I got a bit more pregnant to call the Auckland guy for pricing. $135 is better than $560 (though of course $10 is better yet).

Hi there, I can't believe this post, it's amazing! Thank you! ......but please help! Am not too sure what to do, or what to think anymore! In short, We currently have our 9mnth old under a Specialist for colitis (basically stomach problems). At 5weeks old we were referred onto a Specialist because she was very fussing during feeds, and would immediately have diarrhea and vomiting after feeds and she wasn't gaining weight quick enough and even started losing it at one point. Our specialist did some tests and put DD on Pepti Junior Formula. She took a wee while to get the hang of using the bottle, but she seemed more comfortable and settled, and she seemed to take to Pepti Junior really well. Her vomiting and diarrhea stopped, so we figured everything was solved-i was guttered to not be BF her anymore, but was happy in the fact that she was SO much happier and settled. I saw my GP a few weeks back concerned that DD wasn't putting weight on quick enough again and that she seemed to be struggling with her solids, ie. gagging on food, not wanting chunky food (she just holds it in her mouth, or chokes on it), only eating mashed or puréed food and not taking anymore then 150mls at a time on a bottle. My GP told me to have a follow up appointment with our Specialist, we did, he doesn't seem worried about her at all-he didn't even physically check her out or anything. I asked if there could be anything physically inhibiting her to be able to eat chunky food or take anymore then 150mls, he said he wasn't concerned about anything......he thinks she's got immature feeding skills???? He's referred us onto ped's nutritionist to help us fatten her up, and that's it.......but there's something sitting in my gut that says he's wrong :/. A friend asked if she was tongue tied, and not knowing what it is I goggled it and found a whole lot of info about signs and symptoms and they are everything DD does / has!!!!! The clicking while on the bottle (though not anymore??), the painful and uncomfortable BF'ing (even though she looked like she was latching properly), the lipstick shaped nipple I got after feeding her, the feeling of her flicking my nipple, the pulling off the breast /bottle and gasping for air, sometimes choking on feeds, the sound of gulping during feeds, the green poo's (and stinky poo's!!), and now she's having problems with solids......she refuses chunky food during meals, she just holds the chunky bits at the front of her mouth, she'll eat a cracker, but only the ones that dIsintergrate in her mouth. She doesn't have teeth yet but the food I'm giving her is definitely "gum-able" , it's very soft and even if given to her in a chunky form I would have thought she would have been ale to "gum it" down and swallow it?? She won't hold a piece of canned peach and "gum it" but if I mash it she'll eat it??
...........sooooooooo where I need help is, I rang Yvonne LeFort, she's going on leave until next year, as of today (!!! Grr!!) so Milford put me onto some other Drs that deal with this-one of whom is at my Medical Centre, so I went to see him this avo, and he doesn't think she's got posterior tongue tie or a high palate??????
I don't feel like what the Specialist is saying is right, I honestly don't think she's got immature feeding skills, she loves food, but seems to physically struggle with it?? But the GP at my medical centre said she doesn't have a posterior tongue tie or high palate?? But she has so many of the signs I've read about........am I trying to "self-diagnose" her, should I just listen to the specialist and Dr, or should I follow my gut and go for a third opinion?? If so, does anyone know anyone I can go see, now that DR LeMont is on leave :(
Thanks!! Looking forward to hearing from everyone!!

Hi Imb. I think it's definitely worth trusting your instinct if you still think something is wrong, especially with posterior tongue tie because it is poorly understood and woefully under recognised in this country. I posted above re having 2 laser procedures, which were largely unsuccessful. My gut told me something was still wrong so we went to see a paediatric surgeon (well 2 of them actually but the first was unhelpful). Dr Ann Kolbe was absolutely amazing and confirmed that there did still seem to be a problem. So our DD had general anaesthetic (which wasn't so bad - basically gas & air, like some women have during labour) but unfortunately Dr Kolbe was unable to do anything because it was essentially a thick band of scar tissue left from the laser procedures. We were gutted that (a) the surgery didn't result in any improvement; (b) the laser had been such a disaster after being sold that it was the perfect solution; and (c) surgery had cost a fortune for nothing!! However, the good news is that now at 14 weeks things have improved remarkably and I am now exclusively bf'ing my daughter....so time and growth did eventually fix things.

This has ended up being a bit of a ramble but my main tips are (1) trust your instincts; (2) see a paediatric surgeon if you can. They are expensive but really know their stuff. I can't recommend Ann Kolbe highly enough (Akld based).

Re the problems with food, I can't really comment with DD2 but my older daughter (now almost 4) had an undiagnosed tongue tie and we had a horrendous time trying to bf but no probs with food. We did baby-led weaning though, so not sure if that helped. Possibly worth a try??

Best of luck. My heart goes out to you as I know how difficult all this stuff can be. x

Hi there.
I have a 7 week old baby girl who's just been diagnosed with posterior type 4 TT. We have been having a lot of trouble breastfeeding...sore compressed, cracked and bleeding nipples. It has improved and now it hardly hurts when she latches. However it takes her ages to feed, a lot of this is due to my low supply, but also I've been told with this type of TT the baby struggles to fully drain the breast which obviously adds to feeding time as she's never completely full. I have been pumping after every feed and giving her that too.
The baby pokes her tongue put past her lips and to be honest her tongue looks normal so I am a bit torn about getting her lasered. I would hate to resort to surgery unnecessarily as I'm worried that it may go wrong and cause more problems for her. It seems like a lot of tissue to cut through. Do you know if there are long lasting issues if we don't do anything?

Hi there
My wee girl has to been diagnosed with posterior tt and upper lip tie when plunket picked up a plateau in her weight and noise when she feeds and after a few weeks of debating it we are getting it lasered this friday as our feeding is getting worse and worse. In chch for $380. I was referred by Vicki and then spoke with a Ruth the other lc who explained it alot better for me, a plunket lady, my Dr and my midwife then made the decision ourselves.
She is just gone 3 months and has started crying at my breast unless she is really hungry. Frustrating for me and her obviously as she knows theres more milk there but its hard work for her to get it.

Decided since there minimal risk and could affect speech in future and solids, its best if we just do it now rather than later i guess. Shes not going to remember it-thats just what i keep telling myself as im worried it'll hurt her.
She's currently a really good night sleeper so must get what she needs but Ruth said it could impact on her sleep and when she starts reaching new milestones in the coming months if shes not getting enough....Oh and she WONT take a bottle so i cant top her up. She flat out refuses. BUT we think it might actually be related to the tt since she gags alot....She's a bit of a nipple feeder, I'm really lucky i haven't had any pain but its been the last 2 weeks feeding seems to be getting harder and harder so I'm really hoping for some good results out of this!
A friend had her boy done in dunedin for $10- but that was just snipped which they can't do for posterior so i'm told, thats where the laser comes in...
She said it helped her out a lot though and he baby was no longer as 'windy' which we seem to get a bit of wind too.

Will let you know how we get on if you like?

Edited by Andie-B - 15 July 2013 at 2:00pm

Wow Ali, what a lot you have been through!
I can't help with diagnosis, but we just had our 5 month old's lip and grade 4 tongue tie lasered in Hamilton - Old Villa Dental. We did ok breast feeding, but bottle feeding was horrendous with lots of clicking, poor seal around the teat (many different types tried) and jaw tremor. We ended up having to shift fully to bottle as babe would just scream for the breast, but for me to work, babe had to accept the bottle.
Long story short, it may be too late for babe to learn how to such properly, but hopefully it will prevent any speech issues, as well as dental issues (lip tie).
I would HIGHLY recommend Old Villa. You may even be able to contact them and see if they have someone who can diagnose??
Feel free to private message :)

Hi mamas! I jaut came across this forum. I a one of the admins for the NZ TT Facebook group. Please please please can you all consider emailing your story of TT hell and the effort you have gone to to get a diagnosis for your banyan d all the hassles of health professionals fobbing you off to MyTTstory@gmail.com. We are hopingto gather women's stories to lobby the government for TT and lip tie funding for treatment, and for the better education of health professionals...midwives, plunket nurses, GP, paediatricians etc. Please spread the word to anyone else you know who's child is tongue tied or has a lip tie. THANK YOU. The NZ Tongue Tie support group page is https://www.facebook.com/NewZealandTongueTieSupportGroupResources?ref=hl

My son was assessed by a hospital lactation consultant due to my very damaged nipples, they said he definitely didn't have a TT. We had a second opinion at a community breastfeeding support place when my babe was 4 weeks due to ongoing cracks, blisters etc on my nipples and she said she thought he had a posterior tie! So 2 days later (today) I have had it snipped by a GP in Dunedin for $10. Yay, hope it makes a difference!

Edited by superkat79 - 10 July 2014 at 2:46pm