I'm posting this for Kathe Catone, IBCLC, who is temporarily not
on-line.  She has a client who's baby is one week old.  It's mom's
third baby, first two were breastfed, and dad is very supportive.
Mom's nipples are very sore.  Baby has a short, heart shaped tongue.
He opens his mouth wide, but doesn't stick his tongue out.  When he
nurses, his tongue is bunched, rather than extended, and he "taps" on
the nipple, losing contact with each suck.  It looks (acts) like a
typical tongue tie, but upon examination, there is NO frenelum.
Baby's weight gain is fine, but mom is really sore.  Parents are
doing "open mouth, stick out tongue exercises" with baby, suck
training, and finger feeding with syringes (mom started pumping
yesterday).  Parents would like to fix the problem and breastfeed
happily, but there's no frenelum to clip and the doctors in this area
are unlikely to do a more complicated surgery before 6 months.  Kathe
would like any input from those of you who may have seen a situation
like this before.  She specifically wondered what Allison K.
Hazelbaker and Dr. Newman might think.

Thanks,
Dorothy Rae Collier, LLLL
Moreno Valley, CA