As most crunchy moms, I really wanted to succeed at breastfeeding. How hard could it be? People have been doing it, literally, forever! Well, it wasn’t easy at all. My daughter and I struggled with all sorts of breastfeeding problems and issues. I don’t remember one day of our fourteen-month breastfeeding relationship that seemed fun. But one day, around ten months, it did get easier.
That was the day I had my daughter’s lip tie cut.
She was around 10 months of age, and it was a super easy, quick, and painless. It seemed the worst part was getting her to lie down on her back (which she always hated), and then the sound of the laser scared her a little.
I don’t know why it took so long to figure out she had a lip tie. Breastfeeding was painful every single day, and she never had a good latch. Chalk it up to being a new mom, or maybe a very determined and stubborn one, I ignored the many articles about tongue and lip ties that filled my social media newsfeed.
One day, I saw a photo of a baby with a lip tie and realized that it looked just like my baby’s frenum, as it was attached to her gums, all the way down to her tooth line. Immediately, I called my dentist and he offered to take a look at her, free-of-charge.
He confirmed that she had both a lip and tongue-tie, and suggested that I find a dentist that would perform laser surgery, as she was too young to be safely anesthetized.
Soon, I was on the phone with a sympathetic dentist an hour away, scheduling an appointment.
During the appointment, the dentist confirmed the lip tie and said the tongue-tie was questionable. He suggested trying a lip revision first, to see if she was able to nurse better. So, on went the sunglasses and my baby girl experienced her first Co2 laser surgery.
The difference was immediately detectable, and soon she was latching and nursing much better. Although this wasn’t our only nursing problem, things took a turn for the better at that point. We were both more comfortable, and she was no longer gassy all the time, which I realized had been the result of her swallowing air when nursing. I experienced plugged ducts less often, too.
I wish I’d known about lip and tongue ties when she was born. We could have avoided so much pain, colic, and exhaustion.
Has your baby had a lip or tongue revision? What tips would you give parents who are looking for information on this topic?
