How did I know that I had ties?

Hi all,

So, first thing is first.

Most often, less often that I would hope, parents are told about ties when they are having a particularly difficult time breastfeeding. Sadly, it is commonly dismissed by health professionals, so most people that I have come into contact with regarding ties have found out about them on parenting groups on Facebook.

Common symptoms for ties in infants include:
Some common Signs of Infant Tongue/Lip tie (completely borrowed from Dr Jones' blog on her website, linked below) include

• Poor latch/inability to latch
• Sliding off the nipple
• Fatigue during feeds
• Sleepy feeds
• Irritability while feeding
• Poor weight gain
• Clicking during a feed
• Dribbling milk at the breast/ bottle
• Digestive issues (such as increased gassiness, reflux, colic, vomiting, distended stomach)
• Maternal nipple pain/ damage (feels like the infant is compressing, chewing, gumming, pinching the nipple)
• Increased maternal nipple/ breast infection
• Compromised maternal milk supply

This was the case for me, and as I have previously posted, B had his ties lasered at Enhance Dentistry in Milton in Brisbane when he was 9 weeks old with fantastic results.

Soon afterwards, I began following Debbie from Breastfeeding Affirmations as she had her ties released and realised how much of my life was different or difficult because of my own restrictions.

Symptoms that I struggle with are:

• Grinding my teeth
• Clenching my jaw
• Neck pain
• Headaches
• Huge dental bills
• Restricted neck movement (I cannot do shoulder checks while driving - I can't believe I thought that was normal!)
• Speech problems
• Difficulty shutting my mouth (my family has been right all along, haha)
• Difficulty swallowing
• Problems with liquids
• Poor posture 
• Tongue thrusting

Also - I could see them. Ties cannot be diagnosed by looking at them alone, but in combination with everything else, they were painfully obvious when looking at them. Now I'm obsessed with spotting ties and can no longer watch anything with Jude Law in it.

I have decided this year to prioritise my own health as much as I can after being so burnt out mothering a newborn all through last year, and this is the first step!

Awesome people and things that I mentioned in this:
Symptoms of ties in infants - Enhance Dentistry
Enhance Dentistry
Breastfeeding Affirmations