Unsure whether to get tongue tie cut or not?

[IrisRoon]

Hi everyone, my 6 week old baby has been referred to have her tongue tie cut by my lactation consultant. When she was born they said she had a slight tongue tie, but nothing major. Breastfeeding was extremely painful for the first 2 weeks, it felt like she was chewing the nipple and I couldn't get a good deep latch. So I used nipple shields. After 2 weeks exclusively using nipple shields, I weaned her off and since then she's had absolutely no trouble feeding and I thankfully no longer experience any pain. Baby can stick her tongue out quite far and loves to do so haha. She sometimes makes a clicky noise when feeding, but it's not all the time and she still feeds and drains the breast well.

I really don't want to get a procedure done unnecessarily on her, should I just cancel the appointment?

Usually they assess tongue function and then score it before deciding if the function is so impaired to require a division of the tie. Tongue tie can affect speech, jaw shape, oral hygiene etc so I would look into those and make a decision based on other factors if the feeding has now improved.

Ahh I didn't realize it could affect so much! I'll definitely head to the appointment even just to get her properly assessed, I ignorantly thought it only affected feeding. Thank you for the info!

My son had a minor tongue tie. We did not cut it as it wasn’t affecting feeding. The advice the hospital gave was a minor tongue tie like his was unlikely to have any major future impacts.

Minor tongue ties can resolve themselves- my DD had a very slight one but didn't affect feeding and talking etc.
I would probably go to your appointment anyway though and they can assess it before the procedure and may decide it's not needed after all.
The actual procedure is so minor though I would definitely do it if they think it's still needed

Go to the appointment. I know a few preschoolers having speech therapy because of speech issues resulting from, amongst other things, tongue tie that was missed when they were babies. My DD was going to need a lip tie cut at ~3 for dental reasons but only got out of it because she crashed her scooter and it took care of itself. So I think if a professional thinks it’s worth cutting I’d do it, because it’s about so much more than just infant feeding.

Thank you all for your replies! My lactation consultant said they won't do it if it's not needed, but I'm still afraid of them doing it unnecessarily. Although I'm sure the hospital wouldn't do that.

It says I need to fast her for 90 minutes beforehand, I'm dreading this. She's exclusively BF so sometimes she wants a feed every 30 minutes or can go 4-5 hours without during the night when she's sleeping. I can't predict it. I'm planning on feeding her as much as I can before the 90 minute window, but still terrified if she gets hungry and I have to listen to her hungry cries which breaks my heart and severely stresses me out. Any tips on this??

I would while they are still small. I have a friend who says she had a minor undiagnosed tongue tie which has resulted in sleep issues all her life and also a jaw issue which means she gets recurring headaches. Though am just going by her, am no expert, but she goes to a very fancy dentist who believes a lot or oral and other health issues can stem from undiagnosed/untreated tongue tie.

We were never told they had to be fasting. I think they just need to be hungry enough that they’ll latch on right away after the snip, as that’s generally enough to stop them crying.

Ask why the 90 min is required?

As for whether it needs doing… the honest answer is nobody can tell you. Some kids grow up with a TT with no ill effects, whether on BF or speech or jaw/dental development. Other kids may have some or all of these issues, it all depends on face shape and growth and that’s very hard to predict.

Personally I’d do it if the clinic will do it.

We had it done privately. No issues with feeding at all except a clicking noise, but we were worried about future issues with speech, and dentistry. It was such a simple and quick procedure. The midwife did it on our dining table, it took about 30 seconds, and then she went straight on for a feed.

It's made a much bigger difference than we realised. There were no issues and she cried for about a minute and that was it. Healing was quick.

Also we didn't have to fast. We're told to limit milk before so she was hungry enough to latch on straight after. So just did small feeds

I would go to the appointment at least. I was initially told mine had a minor tie but it ended up being a major one when the specialist assessed it. The procedure was incredibly minor. One cry then nothing. I think baby barely felt it.

Likewise we didn't have to fast. And just to reassure you, my DS tongue tie snip was so quick and easy I wish I hadn't stressed about it (although in my case it was impacting feeding). He just briefly yelped and didn't even cry, then fed, it was over in seconds.

I'd rather just do small feeds like you, I have no idea why the hospital is saying to fast her for 90 minutes. She's only now 7 weeks old the thoughts of fasting a 7 week old is horrible to me. I've asked my lactation consultant why but have yet to hear back.. Will get in contact with the hospital if I don't hear back from my LC tomorrow.

If it ain't broke- don't fix it. If you do go, and it's not a lactation person you see make sure to get bf advice alongside. BF professional.

Is it at Kings? We had this advice with our eldest DD. Like yours she was feeding about every 30 minutes and so it was torture, in the end the nurse running the clinic let me feed her. I think the idea is that they want them to be hungry enough to immediately latch after the procedure.

Only from my own experience, but if she’s wanting milk every 30 minutes then perhaps she isn’t always feeding effectively. Personally I would go to the appointment and see what they say. All three of mine had tongue ties, but we only had the procedure with two as I felt it wasn’t necessary with the third.