Has anyone had a TT checked/diagnosed in an over 12 month old?

[HypatiaTheProcrastinator]

I suspect my daughter has a TT and have done for about 4 months since TruthSweet linked me to some photos. She's 19 months now and Milk Matters told me they can't/won't deal with children over 12 months. I can't get to my HV sessions so I'm not sure who to discuss it with. But I also wonder what the likelihood is of them actually fixing it.

She is still breastfeeding so I guess it might be assumed that the fact that we've managed this long will mean it's not worth fixing anyway.

Am I right in thinking it could affect her speech development to some degree?

This is assuming I'm not being a paranoid mother when there's actually nothing wrong of course.

Any experience or advice would be very welcome. :-)

when ds2 had his snipped the lady who did it (we were at chichester) said that they don't snip tongue tie unless there are feeding problems

she said there just is not enough evidence of it causing speech problems, so unless there are problems feeding they don't snip.

at 1 your daughter would need to have a G.A to get it snipped, so to be honest I think I'd be inclined to wait and see if she does have speech problems and deal with it then if it's an issue.

My eldest son also has a tongue tie which wasn't snipped and he has no speech problems at all

Apparently a really good paediatric dentist might be able to diagnose it. Or maybe an ENT specialist (although many dentists & ENT people apparently don't know much about it). I think a referral through your GP would be the place to start.

I suspect my 2.3 y.o. has a slight TT. I took him to the local bf clinic run by an IBCLC lactation consultation who specialised in TT, but she wouldn't even look at him. I was told that once they're over about 7 months old, rectifying TT would require a general anaesthetic, which would only be done if it were causing serious problems.

DS can protrude his tongue but his frenulum is much shorter than mine, and he swallows in a very odd way, with food getting stuck on the back of the middle of his tongue, rather than going down the sides.

My GP wasn't interested as it's not causing any actual problems. I suspect it is contributing to his dribble problem. The paediatrician who we see about DS's allergies has referred him for hearing tests on the basis of loads of dribble and rather unclear diction (though well within the normal range for his age). He did mention that ENT investigation might be the next step in case the dribbling was to do with tonsil/adenoids/mouth breathing problems. Dunno if this is remotely connected with TT or not.

mawbroon on here had her 6 y.o. DS's TT cut (might have had to go private) which dealt with his reflux - IIRC he had various other associated problems). You can find her on the tandem feeding thread.

I understand that Brian Palmer is the expert on TT & bf. There's quite a lot of info on his website, although it's not that easy to use IMO.

But again, I might just be paranoid.

The lactation consultant that did my son's TT does a free open session once a week at her offices (Bucks area), it might be worth finding out if there's one in your region?
Also, if you're unable to get out and about, most lactation consultants will come out to your home. Our first diagnostic visit was £30ish I think, and after his TT was cut (at home as he was tiny, further fee) she returned twice for no charge, absolutely lovely woman.

It really depends on the type and extent of the TT as to whether it could possibly cause speech impairment - DH has a mild TT and has no issues, but a friend has a v pronounced TT and told me that her speech impediment and her pronounced jaw were caused by her TT.
I don't think TT is any guarantee of future problems, but if you are concerned then def get it investigated asap while she's small, their jaws change a lot once adult teeth come in.

Just to add as well, it's still a bit of a grey area, some HVs don't 'believe' in TT, and even some breastfeeding advisors have trouble spotting them - so do please get a second opinion if you are told there isn't a TT but still aren't satisfied.

(DS had 100% TT at the front which also reformed, and a posterior TT, so he was cut twice, bf was horrendous until the second cut, and has been great ever since, he's now 12mo)

Tiddly, would you mind letting me know the details of your LC please as I might be able to get to Bucks. Thanks. :)

I'd love to get a diagnosis, even if nothing gets done about it at the moment.

Thankyou for the replies, they're very interesting and helpful.

I had no idea a GA would be necessary to snip a TT at this age. That puts me off pushing for a snip a bit.

She still doesn't have a great latch and it can hurt me sometimes but it's not unbearable. She is slow taking up any speech but I think still in the normal range. She rarely says more than one syllable of proper words but does witter on in her own version of language. :o So maybe it's her ability to puck up language that's the problem and not her physical ability to speak. It's hard to know what's normal when my niece who's a week younger can say around 100 words and speaks in 4/5 word sentences!

Milk Matters told me to see Brian Palmer but it's long way to travel. Maybe I should try my GP and go from there. I'd like to know that I'm not wrong whether or not she has it even if nothing is done.

Tiddly, I didn't mean that I can't get out, sorry, just that the HV sessions are at a time I just can't do. How did you find out about your local lactation consultant? I'll be in Birmingham so I'll need my local one but I don't even know where to start looking for one.

none of mine were saying much at 19 months tbh

ds1 (TT unsnipped) suddenly exploded around 2 and started putting words together and was full on sentences by 2.5

ds2 (who had his TT snipped) was hardly saying anything at 2.5, but it turned out it was glue ear and he has since come on immensely

ds3 (no TT at all!) was similar to DS1

Unfortunately Brian Palmer is no longer with us. He died a little while ago . He was the American dentist who did a massive amount of work into TTs.

Patrick Sheenan is based in Manchester (Amongst other places) but I don't know if he does toddlers.

An IBCLC wouldn't be able to to release the tie themselves as they aren't allowed to release ties of children. They should be able to refer you to someone who can though (ENT specialist/Dentist/etc) if appropriate.

Hi,

Thought I'd share my experiences with you.

DS2 had all the postnatal checks and was bf'd without problems. As he started talking he had a bit of a lisp, but lots of children do when they start talking so wasn't bothered too much. When he was 3yo we moved to another part of the country, and we finally managed to get registered with a dentist. On his first appointment, the dentist took one look and said "you know about his tongue tie, don't you?'. I didn't, and actually didn't really know what it was.

I didn't do anything, as I couldn't see anything that needed doing. However when he started school at 4 and a half, it was obvious that his speech was noticeably different from the other children. I took him to the GP who referred him to the local hospital.

The consultant examined him and decided that although they don't usually operate but ds2's was quite bad. The op was under GA and done in about 15 mins. We left hospital 4 hours later, after he's eaten, and although I kept him off school the next day he was fine. He had one follow up session with a SALT and 2 years on there's no trace of the lisp.

I've learnt with my children that the decision to refer is usually based on what effect it's having on the child. If there are no real problems then maybe leave it for a while and see what happens.

If you want to ask me anything feel free to, or pm me. Going out now but I'll be back later.

I did think it was probably normal not to talk too much, especially as her nursery have never mentioned anything, but it's early days either way I guess.

Hi Truth! :o It was Patrick Sheenan in Manchester I was thinking of, oops! I must have read about them in the same place and got mixed up.

Thankyou bobble. That's interesting and is kind of why I'd like to know either way in case it proves to be a problem in the future and I will know that a TT could be the issue.

I might contact my GP at university to have a quick look and see what she thinks as I can be impatient but any treatment will be done back at home when I finish university in reality. Luckily, my GPs up here and back at home have all been very good so I'm hoping they won't brush it off without a proper look.

I've just been searching and read that the woman who runs my local breastfeeding support group is experienced in spotting TTs so I might make a trip there when I'm home. Why didn't I go to the support group when I had a little baby who could have had it snipped easily?!

Because you aren't omni-potent? If you don't know about something or even that it can be a problems, how can you know about how to get it fixed?

But I kept thinking I should go for the social aspect and just never did, so I could have stumbled across discovering she had a TT. I'm going to look a right dufus if her tongue is completely normal now aren't I?

Nothing wrong with getting it checked out is there? You wouldn't stress about going to the GP about a mole you thought wasn't right (I hope??)

And you can still be social with a toddler - it's always nice to have mums with older bfing children/toddlers at a bfing group - it's shows bfing isn't just for newborns

Hi again,

Just a thought but what does her tongue look like when she sticks it out? Ds's was what they call "heart shaped' rather than pointy like it is now.

Incidentally what finally persuaded me to get something done about it was talking to someone who had had TT sorted (under GA) the year before, when he was 25. He said it stung a bit after but was fine the next day. Ds was certainly well enough to go to school the next day, I only kept him off because I was worried about him getting bumped.

Truth, I doubt she'd want feeding but I might feel the need to feed her so I fit in. Or she'll go round doing her open mouth feeding face at the other Mums like she did in the art gallery the other week at a painting of Mary feeding Jesus!! :o

bobble, it's approximately like this one. She can make her tongue pointy but it doesn't come out past her lips much, maybe a few mm.

My 9 mo has a very distinct tt. It makes his tongue bulge upwards and makes him look adorable right now but will look distinctly strange when he is older. He bf fine so I didn't have it done at first and later wAs told the hospital would only do up to 12 weeks. They will do it under ga after one year so my go has agreed to give us a referral then.

You don't have to bf at a bfing group, it's not like an entry ticket - Can your child bf? Latch them on and you'll get a free cup of luke warm 'tea'

:o But I could be an imposter! I guess the councellor (or whatever she is) will want to see her feeding to check her latch with her possible TT anyway so I'll pass the test. But apparently they don't do hot drinks.

Stan, that seems strange to me to not do anything about it, but as has become clear, I know nothing about how TTs are dealt with.

CounSellor, not councellor.

In my local one it's water only, no other food or drink (BM excepted)

Private clinics will do the snip any time under GA. I've been quoted £780.

AngelDog I saw Luci Lishman at Chiltern Breastfeeding Partnership she was really great.

Hypatia I found Luci through the breastfeeding clinics I attended, they all recommended her. Def worth speaking to your local bf clinic advisors!

(Sorry for the slow reply, I was away)

Thanks, Tiddly. :)