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Original poster

How do you know if they have tongue tie?

37 replies

Flossam · 07/06/2005 12:30

DS is 7 months now and when he was first born we noticed his tongue seemed to be 'tied' quite far forward. Read that they usually resolve themselves and is only a problem if they are unable to feed effectively. Trust me, DS has
been managing to feed very well, he's huge! But he can't stick his tongue out and hasn't blown raspberries yet, don't actually think he can. His tongue is fixed basically at his gums. Shall I take him to docs?

OP posts:

spagblog · 07/06/2005 12:32

DS has tongue tie, and the Dr was no help at all!
They won't operate on it until the child turns three and has problems talking apparently.
As they get older they do get better at pushing the tongue out.

MRSflamesparrow · 07/06/2005 12:33

Til 3???

My godson's was cut at just a few weeks old!!!

Original poster

Flossam · 07/06/2005 12:39

I think I will try and take him. It is really far forward, and when he sticks his tongue out (which he has only been trying to do in the past few days) the sides come out but not the tip IYSWIM.

OP posts:

cupcakes · 07/06/2005 12:39

I've often wondered if dd is tongue tied as her tongue end is shaped like the top of a heart - the middle is pulled back by tht tightness under the tongue. Does that make sense?
She had no problems eating or sucking though and although she is slow with her speech development she can make all the correct sounds. Her raspberry blowing came along quite late too but she is very proficient now! (she is 2.4)
The dr's aren't at all bothered - just a wait and see attitude which I agree with. There's no point in unnecessary surgery if it will correct itself (it is rather mild after all).

MRSflamesparrow · 07/06/2005 15:57

Yup - heart shape sounds tongue tie to me.

DH is tongue tied, and he says even though it doesn't cause him any problems, he feels it has gotten tighter over the years.

mememum · 11/06/2005 11:08

My DD was tongue tied. She had no problems feeding or blowing raspberries but we had her snipped! She did however seem behind in her speech. She was done at 19months and it was done on a day procedure at local hospital under a very mild general anaesthetic. Later that day you would have never have known she had been under an anaesthetic, tongue wasn't sore but we were told if we thought she was in discomfort to give her calpol. We are so pleased she's had it done. Her speech has improved dramatically, she can move her tongue and make all the sounds she couldn't before. Don't want to annoy anyone but think how much you use your tongue when speaking and how frustrating it would be if you couldn't move it. Tongue tie does seem to affect people in different ways and some seem worse than others. Also the doctor advised to wait until 1 year old to see if problem resolved itself. Sorry for such a long message.

NotQuiteCockney · 11/06/2005 11:11

You can get it done in the very early days if you think it might be interfering with feeding - tongue tie can interfere with breastfeeding, but not bottlefeeding, from what I know.

My DB thought that DS1 had tongue-tie, but it's not caused him any problems, he's 3.5 and talking well. My HV, GP and BFC all said DS2 had tongue-tie, but he's been feeding ok, and I think he makes all the necessary noises, at 8+ months, so we're leaving it be.

Ameriscot2005 · 11/06/2005 12:53

DS2 had a tongue tie but it didn't cause any feeding problems. He saw a ENT surgeon at about 7 months who said that it didn't need clipping because he was feeding fine.

He didn't talk (or babble) until he was 2 and was straight into full, clear, sentences.

albosmum · 11/06/2005 13:50

Definitely take him to diocs and ask for a consulation then if he needs a op he is on the list.

I think it depends on your doctor and health authority

I live in surrey - ds 1 was tomngue tied they snipped it when he was 2.5 - he had a consultation when he was 1ish and as he had no problem feeding they were happy to leave it. After the op his speech improved.

My sister lives in tyne and wear, her ds also tongue tied but they left his till he was 5 - he couldn't lick ice creams properly till then

My aunt who is now 70 tongue tied but at 6 weeks old she was taken to a pharmacist who snipped it with a pair of scissors - How things change

charleepeters · 11/06/2005 14:42

Dp has a toung tie and we know becasue he cant stick his toung out more than about a millimeter past his lips, you can get an op donr to correct it if it causes speach impediments, but he never had a problem

benbenandme · 15/06/2005 16:05

My ds had tongue-tie when he was born and we found it really difficult to find out info about it. Eventually someone told us about a guy at Southampton hospital who specialises in it and he sent us some info. He was fantastic! We ummed and aahed about whether ds needed to be "done" and eventually made an appointment with him. It literally took less than 10 seconds to do, ds cried for approx 30 seconds and then drank his milk. He was about 4 months old when he had it done and the worst part was trying to find out about the condition. It was honestly no worse than having his hair cut! I will try and dig out the name of the guy and let you have it.

Pruni · 15/06/2005 16:13

Message withdrawn

rummum · 15/06/2005 16:14

My son is tongue tied... the peditrition (sp) said he wouldn't cut it because it hadn't affected sons speech.... son is 7 now...
there are some good pictures on google

Pruni · 15/06/2005 16:16

Message withdrawn

catgirl · 15/06/2005 16:43

bu**er - just typed a really long, eloquent reply - disappeared! So, basically, my ds was/is tonge-tied - much the same experience as Pruni - huge problems feeding him myself. Didn't discover until doc mentioned it at 7 months old (ds had oral thursh). However, no problems with his speech at all.

To answer original question, if he is feeding ok, then docs unlikely to do anything until older - but are you due an 8 month check? Worth mentioning, your docs may do something different.

chicagomum · 15/06/2005 17:00

i come across this problem quite often when children come in for their first checkup at around 2 years old (dentist) and parents often don't know about it - if speech feeding and dental development aren't affected alot of them are never treated (and don't need to be) i've spoken to several midwives about it and few even knew what it was! i think it should be a routine check of a newborn because as stated in this thread it can cause probs with feeding

titchy · 15/06/2005 18:21

What sort of problems can it cause dentally then?

My ds is tongue-tied but as he was one of the fortunate ones that had no trouble breast-feeding and has had no trouble talking I've just thought to leave it alone. He can just about manage an ice-cream (messily!) - not sure he'd be able to French kiss though . However dentist said it can lead to problems so he has been referred. Not sure if we really want surgey though. Seems a bit drastic fro something that doesn't cause any problems.....

treacletart · 15/06/2005 18:42

My DS (now 23m) was born with a mild tongue tie - inherited from his mum. Mine was never rectified and I have had no problems at all - although I cant really roll my Rs.

I did find feding him very painful for the first few months and some people said this might have been made worse by his tongue tie.

He underwent planned surgery last month - for other reasons - and I asked them to fix his tongue tie at the same time. It seemed like a very simple procedure with immediate recovery. I don't think I would necessarily have bothered had he not been having surgery anyway, but I did figure he might thank me one day for a properly sticking out tongue (or his girlfriends might )

Pruni · 15/06/2005 19:31

Message withdrawn

Original poster

Flossam · 15/06/2005 19:41

Treacle tart, thats interesting. I found BF for the first couple of months painful too. Sorry I have only just caught up with thei thread as it dropped off my threads I'm on page. DS also had problems getting feeding established and was admitted to hospital on day foru with jaundice. I wonder if it is related. He folds his tongue up during feeding, you can see it out of the corner of his mouth. It's quite sweet! I have been sooo tempted to do it myself! It is such a thin membrane and I can get hold of sterile equipment. But I couldn't because it would hurt and bleed and I would be being a cruel mummy, doing something I don't definately know needs to be done.

The docs weren't interested. I think I might just have a quick chat with the HV tomorrow, just to be sure that nothing needs/could be done. Thank you so much for all the responses, it is reassuring to see that so many have had the same thing.

OP posts:

Pruni · 15/06/2005 19:44

Message withdrawn

Original poster

Flossam · 15/06/2005 19:44

Pruunii don't!

OP posts:

006 · 15/06/2005 19:46

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Millie1 · 15/06/2005 20:28

My DS (18 mths) has a fairly mild tongue-tie ... can can get it out a little past his bottom lip. Here, in N. Ireland, they basically don't touch it (though my dentist told me of someone he knows who had her child's snipped). About a year ago, I had a chat with a senior speech therapist in our local hospital who told me that in 20+ years she had never been referred a child who had a speech impediment caused by tongue tie and that as long as they can touch the back of their top teeth, they will be able to make all the right sounds. I'm sure there are many speech therapists (and parents!) out there who will disagree with what I was told but she reassured me a little. Only yesterday I asked our HV whether we should have him referred at this stage to get it formally checked out and she told me that they simply don't snip them any more. I do still worry - both on the speech front and dental hygiene - a side effect my HV didn't seem to know off. Funnily enough, we didn't have any probs b'feeding til he hit around 16w when we had a very rocky and sore patch but we came through it and we're still going strong . It's just different for everyone, I guess.

Sorry, this has turned out to be a bit of a novel but it's just something which has been on my mind of late and it's interesting to read everyone's responses!

dabihp · 15/06/2005 21:39

my dd is 2 weeks old and midwife cacsually mentioned she is 'slightly' tongue tied. b/f takes forever and ever and is very sore for me...

is it worth perservering?

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