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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To not get a tongue tie investigated privately if the baby doesn't have a tongue tie...

108 replies

Tonguetied · 17/01/2021 13:41

My sister is having a disagreement with her DH and I suggested she put it to the mumsnet jury. She's too bogged down with it all so asked if I'd do it for her (I've NC'd because I'll be sharing this with her).

She has an 11 week old baby who is bottle fed. She was fairly unsettled at the beginning - colicky, not easy to get to sleep, crying etc. They think she may have a CMPA and silent reflux and the baby is now being treated for these things (prescription milk, meds for the reflux etc). They are also seeing a cranial osteopath to see if that might help with the various issues.

Now that she is used to the new milk, she seems to be settling down into everything - napping better, happier when awake, feeding well. She still wakes throughout the night for feeds and to be resettled but is slowly beginning to go for longer stretches.

The problem is that my sister's DH wants to take the baby to a private tongue tie clinic to have her assessed as he thinks she's got a tongue tie that, if divided, will help her to feed better, sleep better and be more settled generally. He has seen something on the NCT website with a list of symptoms and he thinks the baby has these symptoms. He thinks there's no harm in trying it as it might help and the clinic won't do the procedure if they don't think it's necessary.

My sister, on the other hand, is pretty sure the baby doesn't have a tongue tie and this has been confirmed by 4 different HCPs, including a paediatric registrar (who has been seeing the baby about something unrelated). She thinks that as the baby doesn't have a tongue tie, it's unreasonable to put the baby through an unnecessary procedure that would be painful and have risks of complications, when the baby is bottle-fed, gaining weight, eating to expectation and is arguably as unsettled as a newborn baby is. She's also worried that, as it's a private clinic that makes money from performing tt divisions, it won't necessarily give an unbiased assessment.

He thinks she is being unreasonable because she won't try something that he thinks might help (and is saying that, seeing as she won't try it, he's reluctant to help her out with the nights). She thinks he is being unreasonable because the baby hasn't got a tongue tie and she doesn't think it's right to subject her to an unnecessary medical procedure for no reason, when she's just being a newborn baby and he needs to deal with the difficulties, stresses and lack of sleep that comes with it.

Who is being unreasonable?

YABU - get the tongue tie investigated, you never know.
YANBU - don't get the tongue tie investigated, the baby doesn't have one.

OP posts:
ittakes2 · 18/01/2021 11:58

Tongue ties do get missed but if she has had issues sleeping than some of the problems might be learnt behavioural. My son did not sleep through the night for 4.5 years so I know more about baby sleeping than I should!

Tonguetied · 18/01/2021 17:43

Thanks for all of your responses. I think she's going to book an appointment to get it investigated, just in case.

Just to clarify... My sister's DH isn't a twat, although the way he's chosen to get his point across here is obviously quite dickish. Fact is, early baby days are really hard at the best of times, let alone during a pandemic, and they're both struggling with the lack of sleep, downtime and time together. It's very easy for resentments and bad attitudes to build up at times like this...

This thread has been really helpful because both she and I thought he was being totally unreasonable, and it now turns out that, on balance, perhaps he wasn't. Mumsnet is great for stuff like this. Thank you. Smile

OP posts:
JustNotFunAnymore · 18/01/2021 21:37

Let us know how she gets on OP. X

PracticallyPerfectInZeroWays · 19/01/2021 06:50

Tonguetied Very true and fair-minded of you! Good luck to your sister.

Brefugee · 19/01/2021 08:22

It's his baby too. Why would anyone be concerned at an expert looking at their baby for something that might, after all, be there?

How can it hurt?

TheKeatingFive · 19/01/2021 08:28

Tongue ties are very frequently missed.

There won’t be a procedure unless there is a tie.

Why not get him checked?

FWIW, DS got a tongue tie snipped at 8 days and didn’t even cry.

TheKeatingFive · 19/01/2021 08:32

given my sister's (and mine, and 4 hcps) pretty strongly held belief that there isn't a tongue tie/problem to be fixed.

Why are your and your sister’s views relevant. You aren’t professionals. Given it’s often missed by HCPs, your opinion doesn’t carry much weight here, frankly.

I’ve no idea why you wouldn’t just get it checked. Sounds like pure stubbornness to me.

SimonJT · 19/01/2021 08:34

My son had a tongue tie, I very much doubt his birth mum had heard of it so it is unlikely there were any investigations.

His was pointed out by the dentist when he was four, he is also hearing impaired so his SALT had put certain speech issues down to his hearing impairment. He had specific issues with R, S and St, when he had his tongue ‘repaired’ his speech improved and he can now make those sounds very clearly. Before he had it done he also couldn’t lick things, so he couldn’t lick an ice lolly.

If it turns out the baby doesn’t have a tongue tie then the procedure won’t be carried out.

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