After a very rough beginning breastfeeding my first child, Jesse, I was determined that it would be different with baby number two. I had learned a lot in the 3 years I’d been breastfeeding and attending La Leche League meetings. I was also determined to reap the reward of continuing to nurse my toddler through my pregnancy (which was often uncomfortable and sometimes even painful). I’d heard from friends that I’d have less initial discomfort, my milk would come in faster, and I’d have an easy remedy for engorgement.
Quinn, my second child, was born March 2011. It was a lovely, uncomplicated home birth.
I nursed him as soon as he seemed the least bit interested. It was wonderful. My milk came in the next night. I didn’t get engorged. I didn’t have any pain. He was (and still is) a very easy baby. He started sleeping 5-6 hour stretches the second night. He nursed quickly and seemingly easily. He did lose nearly 10% of his birth weight, but regained it by 2 weeks. And he continued to gain adequately in those first weeks. He was very laid back, content, and rarely cried. I was well rested and felt great. I thanked my lucky stars that everything was going so well.
As time went on I started to wonder about a few things that I’d picked up on in regard to Quinn’s nursing.
He was always a very noisy nursling. I remember attending a documentary screening when he was 2 weeks old, and they had to turn up the volume in the theatre because the noise from Quinn nursing was drowning out the sound of the documentary.
He was a very messy nursling. Milk leaked from the corners of his mouth, and he’d often pop off the breast coughing and sputtering. He even seemed to be aspirating my milk, and always sounded congested.
There were also several episodes of “power-puking” where he’d projectile vomit and entire feed.
I attributed all of this to my supposed “overactive letdown.”
There was also a noticeable click when he nursed, and his tongue always felt like it was flicking my nipple.
Early on I attributed these things to him being a newborn, and fully expected him to be a pro within a few weeks.
But, by the time Quinn was 6 weeks old, I started to realize that something was just not right. Instead of getting better, things seemed to be getting worse. Our nursing sessions seemed to always end in frustration, with both of us in tears, and me holding him up and asking him, “What’s wrong?! I don’t understand what you want!” I avoided nursing him in public (something I’d done unashamedly with Jesse) because it was too difficult and frustrating.
It was also at 6 weeks that I got my first of four blocked ducts and developed a persistent thrush infection. I started taking lecithin to prevent blocked ducts and followed Dr. Jack Newman’s Candida Protocol to get rid of the thrush, both without success. I also started experiencing painful vasospasms. Though Quinn never did develop any signs of thrush himself, at 2 months of age, he began refusing to nurse. Even when he was obviously hungry, he would cry when I’d try to bring him in to my breast. He also started losing weight.
That’s when I came across a blog post by the Analytical Armadillo, a lactation consultant in the UK, called “Tongue Tie, the Hidden Cause of Feeding Problems?”. It struck me that we had at least half of the symptoms of tongue tie. Since Quinn didn’t look tongue tied to me, I checked him for a lip tie, which was also described in the post, and sure enough, he had one.
Lip Tie in Quinn
I thought this must be the cause of our feeding issues, so I started on my journey to find someone to help.
About the Author
Amber Snow
Thanks, Amber – this could easily help some momma. Very well explained and clear. Carry on, milk momma.
Thanks Wendy.
Holy crap, Erik most definitely had a tongue tie, this describes him exactly… how often did I hold him up, screeching, feeling utterly helpless!
Does the lip tie continue around & under onto his palette or is that just a normal frenulum line down the roof of his mouth? Trying to decide if my son has a lip tie, but i’m not sure what a normal (no lip tie) looks like. Would LOVE to see a pic for reference. How far down the top gum is normal? I worry about it causing a gap between the teeth, if it is a lip tie. Does this happen?
Hi Amber, what a great post! I am currently trying to help someone in NL with PTT & LT, not easy since I am in Montreal! She is considering traveling great distance to have the ties released because she has been able to find help in NL. Do you have any resources to suggest? Ideally in the St. John’s area, but anything in NL would be closer than MTL! Please send me an email asap since she is looking at booking flights as we speak! Thanks!
wow, my 8 week old has all of these symptoms. I didn’t think he had tongue tie, but his lip definitely looks like that.. I had no idea it was a problem. Thanks x a million!
I am now an exclusive pumper because of a tongue tie. We had it clipped when my DD was a week old but she just couldn’t suck right. She still clicks a lot (loses suction) when she feeds. She is now 16 weeks old. I wish we could have breastfed!
THIS IS AMAZING!!!!! My son had regular tongue tie which we had cut, but the problems persisted. We tried our chiropractor to make sure his jaw wasn’t misaligned due to the tie. Still, the same problems! milk leaking from the side of his mouth, not able to bottle feed or take a paci, reflux symptoms, gassy, thrush, NOISY nursing (losing suction, clacking etc), sounds congested, etc! Tis could have been my story! THANKS A MILLION FOR SHARING!! just waiting for a call back from the ped dentist who did the tongue tie!! thank you, thank you, thank you!!
Amanda, Quinn’s lip was tied down to the papilla but didn’t not go further than that. Some babies have a lip tie that will attach behind that. If you would like a better explanation, I would suggest checking out Dr. Kotlow’s articles on his website. He has pictures! http://www.kiddsteeth.com (yes, that’s two d’s!)
Jess, don’t give up. Check out the FB support group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/30008320854/
You are doing an amazing job for your daughter by continuing to provide her with your breastmilk.
Alisha, where do you live?
Jennifer, we’ve already been in contact. It pains me to say that resources here are no better than when I needed them myself. I’m working on it though!
Oh honey, I’m so glad you’re sharing your journey with Quinn. It’s going to help so many.