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Original poster

tongue tied, 8 months old

30 replies

uwila · 01/02/2006 19:50

Does anyone have a child who is or was tongue tied? Did it require the snip or have they gotten along okay without treatment. I feel like such a bad mum. I didn't even notice it until it was pointed out to me tonight. And sure enough, the poor guy can't stick his tonge out past his lip.... awwwwww...

Just wondered if anyone else has any experience to share. My first reaction is that it's probably better to have it snipped before it effects his speech. Or is it likely that it won't effect his speech?

OP posts:
chapsmum · 01/02/2006 20:07

click here
This thread had a fair bit of info on it, ignore the bit about the one testicle

Mercy · 01/02/2006 20:15

My mother, brother and I are tongue-tied. It hasn't made the slightest difference to our speech development. If you've got this far with breast/bottle feeding it seems unnecessary to me. Equally I've not read the other thread!

Pruni · 01/02/2006 20:16

Message withdrawn

Rhubarb · 01/02/2006 20:18

We have a speech therapist in our family and she took a look at ds who has this, she said that tongue-tie almost certainly never affects speech. His tongue has grown since he was born and now you can hardly notice it at all!

lua · 01/02/2006 20:25

Hi Uwila,
Ds had his tongue tied. We snipped when he was 6 weeks, when is a really easy procedure. I did a lot of research when he was born and it is true that most often it has no consequences. We decide to snip it, just in case since at 6 weeks is reallly easy to do it, and we saw no reason not to do it and be 100% sure. It was not easy to find someone to do it, and I think at 8 months it might require anesthesia. So, I think you might as well leave it.

tab · 01/02/2006 20:31

Hi Uwila. I think that maybe we were on the same thread when pregnant. my ds2 is just 8 months and and a week and it was my thread about tongue tie (and one testicle??) that chapsmum was pointing out to you. It was my mum that pointed the tongue tie out to me. Apparently my dad had it but I havent been able to ask him about it yet. I dont think that he ever had anything done about it. Nobody else in our family has ever had it.
I just find it really worrying. Maybe it's more upsetting at this age when you just really want them to stick their tongues out or even just out over their lips. What are you thinking about doing.
We're in south london and the gp here said dont worry, not usually a problem. That was a few months ago but I am worrying. How is your ds feeding. Is he coping with lumps?
Dont feel like a bad mum, goodness we've got so many other things going on, especially now that they're moving!!
I want to get a second opinion on it and my feeling is that if its to be snipped, the sooner the better, not just for speech but for playground games and licking lollies - I dont know. HOpe you're feeling alright. At least now I know that its very common and nothing very serious. Im not as worried as I was. Mumsnets very good for that isnt it.

Original poster
uwila · 01/02/2006 21:08

Call me a sinic, but I think the NHS bases it's advice on the available budget, which may or may not be what's best for my son. He seems to feed okay... although breastfeeding didn't go great. But it's way too late to worry about that now. If he were likely to develop speech problems, I would want to snip it before he did. I think it's better to prevent a problem that deal with it after it happens. And I suppose I just want him to have a normal tongue like other kids too. That is perhaps a silly reason. But a snip of the skin under the tongues does seem pretty low risk to me.

It irritates me actually to just be discovering this now. Why did no paediatrician, midwife, health visitor, GP say "Hey, this boy is tongue tied. You might want to think about a snip." No, I notice it at 8 months when it's no longer such a simple procedure.

Not sure what to do really. If I decide to have it snipped, and the NHs frowns about it, I'm happy to pull out the Bupa.

OP posts:
Original poster
uwila · 01/02/2006 21:09

Oh, and Hi Tab and Lua. How rude of me. Sorry.

OP posts:
colinandcaitlinsmommy · 01/02/2006 21:22

DD (5 mo) has it. It wasn't diagnosed by her Dr, but pointed out by MIL. I talked with her Dr. about it and he said not to do anything about it unless it was severe enough to affect her feeding, which was how I felt. BF'ing did go kind of slow, I'll admit, but I can't say we really had a problem, and since she's lactose intolerant and has to be on soy formula anyways, bottle feeding goes much faster. I know my baby sister had it, and she's gotten along just fine with no speech problems, and oddly enough I went to the dentist 2 weeks ago, and he said he could tell that I had it (I didn't know) but that my frenulum (sp?) had actually stretched out over time, and I can stick my tongue out and never had any speech problems.

lua · 01/02/2006 21:28

Uwila I agree with you... why wait and see if there are speech problems if it can be solved easily? However, as I said, it may involve general anesthesia at this age -which becomes a worrysome procedure...
In case it helps, I can tell you that we could not get a NHS referral - apparently if they feed OK, they won't do anything until a speech problem has been dtected.
There are very few doctors willing to do the procedure for some strange reason - I used one of the people listed on the linkon Tab's thread. He was great, and really not expensive.

Original poster
uwila · 01/02/2006 22:12

So, where's this list of doctors, Lua?

OP posts:
Pruni · 01/02/2006 22:20

Message withdrawn

2Happy · 01/02/2006 22:22

I'm tongue tied and I was breastfed with no problems. I was thought to have a slight lisp when I was younger, but apparently I gabbled so much and so fast people just kind of glazed over and nodded vaguely at me rather than trying to understand a word I said. A dentist once offered to snip it for me to help me french kiss, but a) the idea of having it snipped filled - and still fills - me with utter horror (really. It freaks me out worse than the thought of belly buttons, and they get me every time...), and b)I never really trusted my dentist (well would you trust a dentist with bad breath?!), and c) I was 12 and wasn't all that sure about boys, let alone french kissing them!
So I guess there's no reason why it has to cause problems, but at the same time, if you get it done when they're too young to remember, maybe you save them hard choices (and yes, some teasing when you can't stick your tongue out at people at school) when they're older. Personally, if I had a kid with a tongue tie and it didn't interfere with their feeding, I wouldn't get them snipped, but I could be wrong!

Mummy2Toby · 01/02/2006 22:41

Hi everyone,

Can I join in? My ds is tongue tied, I spotted it when he was very young (he is 14months now) and told my H/V - she said to go to the doctors, so we went along and were told that if it didn't affect feeding that nothing would be done until + if it affected his speech.
I wasn't sure about this but TBH his tongue seems to have stretched - apparently babies with tongue tie put thier hand in their mouths a lot more than others and this naturally stretches the tongue out. DS still can't put his tongue into a point but can get it passed his lips now - he is starting to "talk" now (well I say talk it is just jibberish) so I will see how it goes - I still haven't ruled out having it snipped

Original poster
uwila · 02/02/2006 07:57

Hi Mummytotoby. Of course you can join.

The more I think about this the more irritated I am that no one pointed it out to me. Even if the NHS doesn't want to pay for it (and fair enough, they only have so much money) if someone would have pointed it out to me I could have had it sorted privately when it was a much simpler procedure. But, now I thinkI have to consider geral anaesthesia.

I'm inclined to have it snipped before he starts to talk. I'm not going to wait until the damage has been done. And then what? Go onto a six month waiting list? He'll be speaking in sentences like a drunk before the NHS gives a toss. Okay, I'm exagerating a bit. But, I'm not really of the wait and see camp.

I obviously need to look into this more before I make a decision. So, if anyone else has any experience, by all means please join this thread.

OP posts:
KeepingMum · 02/02/2006 09:06

Hi uwila
My ds had tongue-tie as well - I noticed it as soon as he got home from hospital, but none of the professionals had picked it up. We were given the same story, nothing will be done unless he has problems feeding, which he didn't seem to. Though compared with dd (who came along later) he was much, much slower. Then they said about speech, which he doesn't have a problem with (he is nearly 5 now). Dh wants to get it done as he thinks there may be an implication for his teeth, he can't really lick his front teeth, and hates eating sticky things as he can't use his tongue to clean his teeth. He also hates getting food around his mouth as he can't lick it off. We spoke to the doctor again and they said it was much better to go through a dental surgeon. It woudl probably need a whiff of gas but not a full anaethesia. We have been recommended a dentist who will do it. They can't all administer gas to children. Hope this helps. We would have done it much younger if we had known. I am not sure what ds will think, though he does talk about when he can stick his tongue out.

Original poster
uwila · 02/02/2006 09:51

Oh, thanks Keepingmum. Where are you? All of the stuff I've read on the internet recommends a paediatric surgeon. But a dental surgeon seems to make sense.

I'm keen to look into this and be brushed away by the NHS.

OP posts:
Original poster
uwila · 02/02/2006 09:52

oops
"... NOT be brushed off by the NHS."

OP posts:
KeepingMum · 02/02/2006 10:02

I think the one recommended was in Rickmansworth (Herts), I will check with dh. I think you need a referral from GP or other dentist, and it should be free for a child. Good luck

lua · 02/02/2006 12:24

Uwila, I found the paed that did my DS's tongue here
He (nottingham) was super, and keep talking about how silly it is that people don't just do it anymore when baby was born. How in the old days, the MW would just run their nail under babies tongue as they came out....

There are some scary websites out there talking about possible effects on teeth, and from what I gather, dentists are more aware, and more willing to avoid future prblems.

I hope you get sorted....

JFW · 02/02/2006 15:50

My turn. 6wk old daughter has tongue tie and not sure if it's affecting breastfeeding - she feeds for hours at a time and never seems to get enough. tried bottle feeding expressed and adding a bit of formula because she wasn't gaining weight - this seems to have helped as she's gained a bit.
today, had 2nd appointment with the head/neck specialist but were sent home without fixing the tt. he thinks tongue tie isn't affecting her feeding and doesn't want to perform the procedure (well, he doesn't have to put up with marathon breastfeeding) but couldn't say for certain it wasn't hurting her feeding nor that it wouldn't cause speech problems in the future. He said if it did cause problems in the future, we'd look at it then we should see him in 2 years. If tt is so simple to fix, why didn't he snip now instead of waiting until the problem arises at age 2 when she'd need a local anaesthetic?
I'm frustrated at the waste of time and don't understand the consultant's hesitation - isn't it a simple procedure? I asked him what the disadvantages were to snipping - he was vague and said if it were his daughter, he wouldn't get it done. he might have meant well in his response but i felt like i'd be a horrid mother if I subjected my 6wk old to a tongue tie snip. don't know what to do.

Mercy · 02/02/2006 15:59

Lua, was your baby able to feed properly after the op? Does it heal straight away?

lua · 02/02/2006 16:02

JFW - That was what we kept asking - what are the risks on doing it? There might be some out there, but as far as I know it was that some unqualified people were doing on older children without anesthesia, and then had hemorage problems. That's why for older kids the recommendation is to put under sleep. But as far is I could find out, under 6 weeks there is no vasculartization in the frenulun, so is dead easy. My Ds's tongue were snipped in the attending room with a scissor by a paediatric surgeon. After snip, DS breastfed for 5 minutes and was quite happy. Seemed like a waste of a time of a highly trained man! But I'm glad he is willing to do. If you have the money (around 150 pounds), I would chase someone privately....
Check the link I did bellow

Original poster
uwila · 02/02/2006 16:53

I am just getting more and more pissed off that I didn't know about this earlier.

Right, I've e-mailed the guy on Lua's link who works at St. George's in tooting and asked about an appointment, and offered a private appointment if necessary as I noticed he also works at a private hospital which is quite close to me.

OP posts:
mcmudda · 02/02/2006 17:04

DD (7.5 mths) is tongue-tied and ironically was a far better b/f-er than ds. Same as everyone else - if it doesn't affect her feeding then nothing will be done unless it affects her speech.

I noticed it when she was a few hours old, but I was looking out for it because of dh.

Dh is tongue tied and it is hereditary so I bame him entirely!
He was an early and clear talker, but can't stick his tongue out past his lips - but he can snog fine

Best fri3end is speech therapist - she says it's unlikely to affect speech.

Another friend's ds is 3 days older than dd and his tongue tie was snipped at a few weeks old and made a huge difference to the feeding problems they'd had.