tonguetie

Little B was diagnosed with tongue tie by our midwife as soon as he was born, meaning a little lip of skin is anchoring his tongue to the bottom of his mouth. Apparently this is more common in boys than girls, and isn’t good in the latching on stakes.

The limited movement of his tongue makes achieving a good latch a challenge, and he keeps slipping off because he simply can’t get a good purchase on the boob. As a result he inevitably ends up sucking the nipple as opposed to the breast, meaning both are now cracked, bleeding and Oh So Sore.

Luckily the situation is affecting me more than him – rather than losing weight as many newborns do he’s actually gained 5% of his bodyweight since birth and now weighs 8lbs. It’s the actual feeding which is the problem, and has made me realise that breast feeding a newborn and breast feeding a toddler are two completely different things.

By the time I gave up breast feeding BB at 21 months it was something neither of us needed to give any thought to. I simply gave her my breast and she helped herself, whether that be lying in bed, sat on the sofa or in a coffee shop. It was a relaxed, happy, enjoyable process, in which we would snuggle down and have time out from the rest of the world.

Now, with every suck feeling like multiple daggers in my nipples, I’m hunched over Little B with one hand on my boob and the other holding his shoulders in order to clamp him on and minimise the chance of him losing his grip and slipping off. My toes are curled with the pain of the feed and my whole body is tense, no matter how much I try to relax.

We’ve got an appointment to have the tongue tie cut next Wednesday, which means another 5 days to navigate first…