Tongue Tie

[BaDaBing]

Hi guys

I am happy to announce that I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy on Friday morning. This is my second little boy and even though I thought I would be a little disappointed if I ended up having another boy and I over the moon. I am so elated and feel so bonded to him its amazing.

Anyway to get to my point.... today I had the home maternity service midwife come to visit me today and she pointed out that my little Brodie had a tongue tie. She said that he may end up having a speak problem which would be corrected by a speak pathologist.

Does anybody know anything or have any experience on this issue. The midwife said that previously snipped it but not now.

Sharn

[xkwzit]

Hi Sharn
I have a mild tongue tie and DD1 has one too. You or your husband have probably got one (it is passed on like eye colour). I was actually happy (bizarre, I know) when told she had one, because up to that point, everything about her was DH and there seemed to be not much of me. Now she has my blue eyes too, so I feel much better having passed them along as well :p .

It caused us some probs breast feeding (which we persisted and overcame). The tongue tie means that they cannot stick their tongues out very far to attach properly, but she has always spoken really well and has never had any speech problems (she is now 4). So I don't think you've any cause for alarm.

Enjoy getting to know him

[Twinkle]

Hi,
They do still snip, at least in Vic.
My Sister has a 7 week old who was born tongue tied both under the tongue and under his top lip.
Sis tried and tried to get breast feeding going (she is an ABA councellor and this is her 3rd bub so she knows what she's doing).
Anyway, since under the tongue has been snipped, bub is able to feed so much better.
She's been taught exercises to do to help with the top lip.

I guess it depends on the lenghth of the tongue tie and how the bub is coping as to whether it needs to be done or not.

Good Luck :)
Angie.

[mummycloud]

Hi,

My second daughter had a double tongue tie. She had feeding problems and would have had a full on speech impendiment had I not got it snipped. It was done without anasthetic :( but it had to be done. I put her straight on the breast afterwards and she stopped crying. I had to give her panadole over the next 24 hours but after that she was back to normal.
I think she was 6 weeks old at the time.

My 4th has a mild tonogue tie, but I won't be doing anything about it because he is attaching to the breast really well. I doubt his speach will be affected either.

Good luck with your new baby boy :)

[our little treasures]

hi i posted a thread about this under general advice i think!! Anyway she took 7wkold to paeditrician sp? and he got a nurse in and snipped it on the spot.. :eek: sil said doc had told her there is no nerves under tongue so doesnt hurt!! they only cry due to having tongue stretched out of face!!!

this only happened 2weeks ago and he has fed (bottle) well since. it might be good to get it done rather than wait until they start talking, i know several friends who are tongue tied and they say noone can tell... but i could tell they didnt speak as well!!

[our little treasures]

oh congrats too!!!! i'm sure everything will workout for you!!

[Oscar's mum]

doc had told her there is no nerves under tongue so doesnt hurt!! they only cry due to having tongue stretched out of face!!!



Just thought I would add (totally off the topic) but when I had my tongue pierced they accidently put the skin part in the clamp and that hurt (obviously not as much as the needle did but it still wasn't too comfortable).

Just pinched that skin between my fingers now, yep still hurts! Maybe it's just me though. :confused:

Oh and congrats on your new arrival :)

[Ky]

Hi

My son is severely tongue tied and it wasn't picked up until he was 18 mths old as I didn't realise that anything was wrong. I found out the reason ... I am severely tongue tied too! I just thought that he looked normal!

We had problems with breastfeeding ... he would get the breast into his mouth and then just look at me as if to say "now what?"! I expressed for 6 weeks and then he went onto formula ... he did ok with a bottle with an old fashioned shaped teat ... straight, not orthodontic.

The paediatrician said that he wouldn't do anything about it until he was over 4 unless it was causing him real speech difficulties. He was just over 2 years old when he started to talk and he is doing really well ... his speech is clear and he has gained an amazing vocabulary in the past 7 months.

The other thing is that they tend to leave it more now as at some time in early childhood your child is likely to fall and sever the tie by themselves. I have noticed that Dan is able to poke his tongue out past his lips now (not far, but a definite improvement), so I guess in one of his many falls he has managed to sever the tie a bit.

I know that my mum had problems breastfeeding me and there are a few things (like licking an icecream) that are uncomfortable for me, but I don't think that being tongue tied has effected me much. I speak well, I sing well and yet can't poke my tongue out much further than my lip!

If the decision is made to snip ... it might be a good thing. Just feel comfortable that if they decide not to snip, that there shouldn't be any really major complications and your little man may not even have any problems with his speech at all!

[cosmic]

Hi,

I know of a bub born in February this year with tongue-tie and he also had a lot of problems with breastfeeding. Eventually he got the snip and was able to feed much better immediately. I guess if it isn't causing your bub any problems, there's no need to snip it but if he is having problems, my understanding is that they certainly do still snip them!

Congratulations!! :)

[mandy_jayne]

Hi, my baby was born 4 weeks ago now and she had a tongue tie too. They told us in the hospital it can be done at our choice by the paediatrician however he was away for 2 weeks so I had to express in hospital and at home until our appointment as she wasn't latching onto the breast properly and was getting frustrated. 2 weeks ago we went back to the hospital and the paediatrician did the procedure right there in his room which only took 2 mins. They don't use anesthetic as there are no nerves under their tongue at this early age. It bled a little bit and I breastfed straight after which was very successful and the bleeding stopped. It was healed over in a couple of days and she fed much better. They told me they don't feel the snip and our little girl was only crying because they had to hold her down so she wouldn't move. I was born with a tongue tie too and had to have an operation when I was 6 to get it fixed. I didn't have a speech impediment but did have trouble getting my tongue out my mouth for several things like licking my lips, ice creams, I couldn't whistle and just general other things. I would ask your hospital about it as I was glad we got our little one done as I remember it being pretty traumatic for me when I was 6 in a hospital for a big operation on my own. This way at such a young age they know no different and it is over in 2 mins. Good luck and if you need any more info just let me know :)

[mimi]

With tongue tie, the function of the tongue is more important than the appearance.

If the tongue can be poked out over the bottom lip and there is full movement in the mouth then it MIGHT not be necessary to snip. If done it should be performed by a paediatric surgeon and usually the earlier the better.

There are many problems that can arise from tongue tie - as has already been mentioned breastfeeding [an even bottle feeding]problems and speech difficulties, but also dental problems and swallowing difficulties when starting solids.

If you are anywhere near Sydney, give Carmen Fernando, Speech Pathologist, a call - she is in the phone book. She has written a book on the subject.

Good luck.

[BaDaBing]

Thank you all so much for sharing your experiences and knowledge with me. I really had no idea about tongue tie before now so it has been really helpful. I have made an appointment with a doc to have a chat to him about it and to see exactly how severe his tongue tie is. We aren't really having any latching problems however he does seem to fall asleep after about 7 mins or so. I'm not sure if this might be because it is maybe harder for him to feed and therefore more exhausting or he might just be a sleepy baby.

Its not nice to think of him having his tongue tie snipped but then again I really do not want him to have any problems such as a speech impediment or even dental problems.... I want him to have as much self confidence as he can.

Thank you all again :D

[pregasaurus]

I have one and my 3 year old has one. Neither of us have had it snipped, both of us speak perfectly and apart from not being able to poke our tounges out at people there are no drawbacks. he had a few problems feeding, but he was breastfed until he was 2 1/2, so obviously we got around them!
Do whatever you feel comfortable with. If you want to get it snipped, do it. If you want to see how he goes, do that. Good luck! :p