Why am I so passionate about tongue ties?
The top photo was my expectation of how my breastfeeding journey would look, but the bottom photo was my reality. I was touched out, in pain, dismissed by health professionals, and traumatized.
I am passionate because I struggled, and I don’t want others to struggle like I did or worse! I had my son’s pediatrician dismiss my concerns. I had lactation consultants in the hospital tell me he had a strong suck and was latching great. I attempted to release my son’s ties but went somewhere that wasn’t trained. The professionals that were supposed to help watched me drown with pain, sleepless nights, mastitis, misdiagnoses of thrush, medical trauma for my son and myself, and more.
With my oldest, he was gassy, his latch stung (which led to the misdiagnosed thrush), and he was awake at night every hour on the hour nursing. For two months, I googled, scoured mom groups, and researched when I finally came across tongue-tie symptoms. No surprise I was dealing with many of them. I went to my son’s four-month pediatrician appointment, who said he wasn’t tied, so I went to a dentist only to be told I needed a referral to get it released. I called, begging her to give us a referral, but she refused. I eventually switched pediatricians, and finally, I got the referral when he was nine months old.
We showed up at the local dentist's office, and they brought us back, but it was a different dentist than we had seen before. He was setting up the laser and admitted he usually uses scissors. He attempted to release the lip first but couldn’t figure out the correct settings, so I held my son down while he screamed for over 15 minutes as he tried to work the laser. Finally, stating he wasn’t sure how to use it. We left feeling defeated and without much of anything accomplished. When we returned for the two-week follow-up, we saw the original dentist, who asked if we saw any difference with the release, but we didn’t. He said we would have to come back and try again but with the same dentist who attempted the last time. We walked out of that office and never went back.
When I got pregnant with my second, I told myself if this baby was tied, we are going straight to a preferred provider I had found out about in Albany, “one of the best.” My second was even more challenging to nurse than my first. I knew something wasn’t right in the hospital, but the IBCLC said he had a strong suck and was fine. I had to syringe feed him, and he’d only latch in the side-lying position for the first two weeks if my husband also pulled down his chin to get a wider latch. I knew he was tied, but when it came to getting it released, I couldn’t do it, I was traumatized from going through it with my first, and I was afraid. I had mastitis, oversupply, and again terrible sleep. His latch was always painful, but I wanted to make it two years; I grinned and bared it. I worked through the nursing aversion until I reached my goal.
I eventually learned how tongue ties don’t just affect breastfeeding; my oldest was speech-delayed and mouth-breathing. At 6, we finally got my oldest son’s tongue tie released. It wasn’t an easy journey, and it required a lot of therapies and chiropractic care before and after his release. Eventually, we will get my youngest’s tie released, but it’ll have to wait for now.
If you are suspecting your baby has ties, book a consult with me here.
