I thought I was a breastfeeding professional. Between 3 kids I have logged 52 months of breastfeeding which is roughly about 4 years and 3 months. Breastfeeding my first was hard. We dealt with the pain and the uncertainty for about 6 weeks and then things were great till I sadly had to wean him at 15 months due to my cancer diagnosis and needing to start chemotherapy. My second baby was a breeze to nurse until his food sensitivities started. Once I eliminated EVERYTHING from my diet things got better and I nursed him for 2.5 years, till I was roughly 5 months pregnant with my 3rd child. Baby #3 was born and everything just seemed easy. He was a great nurser and sleeper. He was the picture perfect baby until his teeth started coming in and didn't stop. From the time he was about 3 month old he has gotten a tooth or 2 a month. That is a lot of teeth. He now sits at 8 teeth at barely 8 months old. As the teeth came in, his latch got worse and worse, my supply dropped, and he started wailing all night long for food. I started to think I was loosing my mind. I called a friend who happens to be an IBCLC (Certified Lactation Consultant) and she literally came running to my house the day that I had found out that Brady had lost a pound. I was scared. The truth was that he was not getting enough milk. She figured out quickly that Brady's upper lip tie and tongue tie was probably causing all the issues. He had had them from birth, but once the teeth started plowing out of his gums at the ridiculous rate he couldn't compensate his latch anymore. It was a chain reaction of him not being able to nurse properly and my supply dropping. I was scared. Taking her advice I took a trip out to see a Pediatric Dentist that does laser ULT and TT revisions. From my research and talking to people the laser seemed like a better option that the traditional method of snipping. After meeting with the dentist a week ago, we had to make the decision to do the revision or wait and see if things would get better on their own. But after another week of misery we decided to go through with the revision.
Yesterday was the big day and let me tell you, I was freaking out. We got to the dentist around 12:45 pm and it went quickly from there. They took him to the back while we waited in the waiting room. He was weighed, given a dose of Tylenol, swaddled down, had before pictures taken, the numbed his mouth with drops, used the laser (which was about 20 seconds total), and then did after pictures. He cried. A LOT. It was hard to hear him scream, but before long the dentist came out holding him. He was upset, but he got over it quickly and the first time he nursed in the office was like night and day! It really already is making a difference in his latch.
For the next 2 weeks we need to do stretches a few times a day. That means some screaming, but he doesn't seem like he is in pain less than 24 hours after having it done. His sleep was about the same as when he is getting a tooth. Mostly he hates me putting my fingers in his mouth (but who really likes it?). So that is where we are now. Hopefully this makes a difference and I can rebuild my supply quickly and he can get back to his old chubby baby self.
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