What are the downsides of not getting tongue tie fixed?

[kayjayel]

Hi, I suspect DS (7 weeks) has a tongue tie. It was suggested when I struggled with pain and damaged nipples, and had to express for 5 days to heal and start again. With a bit more care over the latch, and him growing bigger, there is now minimal pain (more discomfort), and we're happily feeding out and about, exclusive bf, so I don't feel the need to address it.

But as I read all the threads where people are getting the TT snipped, I worry I'm not doing the right thing? He still splutters and chokes when feeding, his latch is pretty bad and sometimes looks more like bottle feeding, my nipples are often lipstick shaped, and he clicks and seems to take in a lot of air when he feeds. He seems to be a bit more windy than my other babies, but is fairly content.

So are there things that I should be considering in the longer term if I leave the TT alone now?

Thanks for any advice!

Some TTd babies can have speech impediments when they're older (although by no means all). I don't know how to tell (or if it's possible to tell) which baby will have a higher chance of this but a qualified TT IBCLC expert may be able to give you some indication based on her experience. Possibly!

It's great that you're not getting sore anymore, but the discomfort can be wearing and may impact how you feel about longer term breastfeeding, but that of course depends on what your thoughts on that are (bearing in mind this frequently changes).

One final consideration is that a snip when they're tiny is the least traumatic option. Over 6 months and you're likely to have the NHS insist it's done under general, and as a child the frenulum gets stronger and more painful to cut (if it's required - of course it may not be). Doing it now gives you the highest likelihood of him learning to latch well.

Saying all that, the snip isn't pleasant. It's fast and is unlikely to be extremely painful (from the reactions we see) but it can lead to some discomfort for the next 24 hours needing minor pain relief, but that's about all.

Hope this gives you some info on both sides.

Hi, thanks for posting . I may consult someone, I think there are some links on other threads to TT experts. It does mean I look forward to stopping feeding, but he's my third, I know by the end feeding is very different when its not every hour or so, so I know I'll feel differently in 6 months time.

I have 4 dc - 3 have TT -
ds1 has TT - slow to learn to latch and bf sore to start with, no speech problems but can't lick an ice cream.
ds2 no TT
ds3- TT, speech therapy weekly for 2 years (Could have happened anyway)
ds4 - TT, very slow weight gain, bf very sore and relentless - had tt snipped at ten weeks - he screamed a bit but bf straight away and it was obvious in the next 24 hours that it had made a difference. I stopped dreading feeds and began to enjoy bf - I had been thinking that I would keep going til 6 months this time which as I had bf dc3 until he self weaned and had originally planned to do the same this time maybe tells you how it was making me feel.
It was only when ds4 had his TT spotted that we went and checked the others- I don't know if a division would have made a difference for them.

hi pearlgirl, thanks for replying, that is interesting - seems a bit unpredictable!

My dh is getting his snipped on Monday. He is in his 30s. The tie rubs against his teeth sometimes and gets sore.

Probably not exactly the perspective you were asking for/expecting.

Ah but now i can assume TT won't necessarily prevent DS getting married...

All 4 of mine were born with TT, DH still has his.
Only one of the kids still has theirs ( aged 8). The rest have all broken them themselves at some point.
I BF them all with no problems, but they were all big babies ( over 10lbs) and have big mouths.
DS, the youngest, has verbal dyspraxia, so has weekly speech therapy but that's nothing to do with his tie.

Ds has TT - in contrast to a lot of 'advice' I was given when he was born, he bf successfully, gained weight well and has thrived into a chatty 2yo He didn't have any latch problems, so if your little one appears to be struggling, it's a very quick procedure to get it snipped to avoid any issues.

No signs yet of any speech impediments in my ds but I do keep a very close eye/ear on it! From what I see & hear, TT and the symptoms and difficulties vary wildly - best to assess your own baby individually and see your gp if you have any concerns.

In addition to possible speech impediments, tongue tie can also result in bad teeth (can't use tongue to loosen bits of food etc from teeth). I have a friend who had her tongue tie seen to in her early 30s because it was thought to have caused her problems with teeth - a 'better late than never' sort of fix.

DD2 had tongue tie snipped - quick, painless for her and no discomfort feeding straight afterwards.

One of my twins has a TT - he's nearly 5 months now and it's never caused a problem with bfing, but obviously it is too soon to tell if it'll cause a speech impediment.

It's been picked up by my HV, GP and paed, and they've all said it shouldn't cause a problem. Hopefully they're right

My DH has a speech impediment from TT. We had DS' TT snipped at 7 days. (and it made a huge difference to feeding too!)

Statistics are that 5-10% of babies have a tt and of these 50% will have problems feeding so it is quite possible that your ds will be fine.