Affordable LCs? Sorry so long!

[@llli*hopedmnd]

Hi all,

New to LLL, excited to be here!
A little background: My daughter is almost 5 months. We had a lot of difficulty with weight gain in the beginning, so at 2 weeks the pedi told us to stop trying to breastfeed for a week, give her pumped milk in a bottle, and supplement with formula. Stupid me, I listened, and she developed nipple confusion. I had a c-section and during recovery couldn't go anywhere without help, so didn't get the help I needed. In my attempts to get her to breastfeed again, I accidentally gave her nipple aversion (I was stressed and cried a lot during the attempts. The pain meds didn't help). I found out at 3 mos. that she also has a posterior tongue tie, which probably was the source of the problem in the first place and surely didn't help trying to get her back to the breast when breastfeeding was so challenging for her!

Here we are, 5 mos later, and I'm still trying, and still heartbroken. I've tried EVERYTHING, literally, except having her tongue clipped because her father is against it. She's most willing to latch at home with a nipple shield and SNS, but she can't latch well with the nipple shield and it keeps popping out of her mouth. The funny thing is, when the local LC (in her volunteer capacity) helped her latch a couple of weeks ago without the shield, she latched just fine! She wouldn't stay on long, though.

I believe my best chance of getting her to BF is with an LC. I've been to LLL meetings obviously, and had the local WIC BFing peer counselor try to help, all to no avail. Medicaid in my state won't cover lactation consultations. I've had one consult, but that's all I can afford. The volunteer LC won't help any more, she wants me to go in for a consultation so she can get paid (perfectly understandable!). Any suggestions on ways to get help from an LC or any other professional, other than what I've tried? I know my daughter would be much happier breastfeeding, she tries to treat the bottle like a breast, and it's making her overweight!

tyia

[@llli*kst.7399]

My insurance covered the LC who was an RN. Otherwise they weren't covered. Can you look into that?

Also, you really need to get the tongue tie clipped. Tell your husband that this isn't just about breastfeeding. Tongue tie can cause even more problems later with starting solids and speech. It is way better to do it now than waiting until she is 5.

If she was able to latch with the LC then it sounds like she has the skills. Perhaps pick a day, give up the bottles and just go with the breast. It won't be easy. There will be tears. But sometimes it's the only way. Make it a bonding experience. Lay in bed with your baby naked and you topless. Take warm baths. And offer the breast frequently. It took my daughter 2 months before she even latched and another 3 months before she got it right. You can do this.

[@llli*mommal]

Good advice from the PP! I also don't see any reason to wait on the tongue tie. If it's causing problems with nursing, it definitely may have the potential to cause problems with solids and speech- so why wait?

This link covers getting a baby to the breast: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/...to-breast.html. Have you been pumping all this time? How's your milk supply?

[@llli*mskalinin]

My son had posterior tongue tie and we got it clipped at 5 weeks old. He didn't even cry, it really did NOT bother him! He was a little more fussy than usual that night but after that, no probs at all. The ENT who clipped it said he could develop speech problems and the longer you wait the thicker the frenulum gets, making it a more involved procedure. When they're babies its just a quick snip and done, but if they are older (maybe 4 or 5 when speech problems start to become evident) they have to go under anesthesia for the clip!

Before he got clipped we had weight gain issues, I was cracked and bleeding and hating every moment of breast feeding, crying a lot. After the clip my right side (the one not so bad off) healed up in about 3 days. My left side took about a week and a half, but it healed, too, and it had been in really bad shape. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese go get that tie clip, it really is not a big thing and you and baby will be so much better off after ward.

As to LC's... my local LLL IBCLC is free (volunteer) all the time so I guess I am just lucky in that. But I also know that the LC at the hospital where I gave birth charged $30/hour for private consults.

[@llli*hopedmnd]

Thanks, all the replies are so helpful! Our hospital's LCs are $97/session! Of course, Medicaid also doesn't cover it, nor my own health insurance . Thanks for the advice on the clipping. I'm borrowing Tongue Tie: From Confusion to Clarity by Carmen Fernando from my LLL Leader--excellent resource! I'm using it to convince my partner that we should get the tie clipped.

@mommal: YES I'm been pumping the whole time!!! OMG I've been pumping the whole time. I didn't know how to pump well at first, though, so I'm still at 8 ppd to maintain my supply. I pump 27 oz/day and Baby consumes 30 (we're supplementing w/formula), but the extra 3 are from her attempts to comfort nurse with a bottle. She's a bit over-chunky as a result (super-cute, but it does impede her rolling/sitting attempts a bit). She spits up and poops ferociously if she has too much formula so I'm really trying to eliminate supplementation, so if anyone has a suggestion that would be great!

[@llli*MagnoliaHoney]

If it helps any, when my dad was born in the 1950's they automatically clipped tongues at birth. By the time I was born in the 1970's they had stopped doing it at birth automatically.

At 8 years old I ended up having to go in for surgery with a ENT. I had to go to speach therapy do exercises etc trying to get my speech correct. I still have a impediment and am nearly 40. My dad has NO problems at all with speech or anything! I can't even stick my tongue out at some one cause it won't go that far. I can't blow bubbles with bubble gum, and many "normal" kid things, it was very frustrating and kind of humiliating as a child to not be able to do the things that other kids did like that. Like even whistling, can't do it, my tongue can't do that maneuver. I have gotten our children's clipped, it's sooooooo worth it!

Also there is a LLL magazine article on it, and new research done. I can't think of exactly what the article said, but in short that this no clipping thing that swept the nation the last few decades has done a lot of damage! And really we need to get back to clipping!