Newborn with tongue tie

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Hi,

My baby is 2 days old and the midwife came to see him today and said he had a tight tongue tie. He's formula fed so the NHS wouldnt cut it
I'm happy to pay to go private to get it snipped but I just wondered if it's actually necessary as I don't want to put him through something that's not.
The midwife mentioned today they used to say it could cause feeding and speech problems but now research says it doesn't.
Does anyone have any experience on wether their child had it and if they got it cut or not.
I just don't want him to have to have it when he's older and it be traumatic for him.
Thanks

DS had a fairly severe tongue tie at birth, I think the scale they use is 0-10 with 10 being normal, 0 being total tie. DS was a 4/5 which was preventing him from breastfeeding, he also couldn't push his tongue out between his lips.

We were told by the ENT consultant it would cause speech problems later in life so had it snipped. Other than a few minutes of crying it didn't bother DS at all, so I don't regret getting it done and he won't ever remember it. In my experience the midwives know naff all about tongue ties so I'd push for an ENT consultation to get it checked properly.

@FluffySavage thank you the midwife only mentioned it briefly and didn't give me any details.
How do you go about getting an ENT consultation? I really want it done whilst he's still so young so it's not something that will be traumatic. How old was your baby when they got it snipped?
I have enquired about getting it done privately but I would imagine they won't be doing none essential procedures just now
I'm really worried and have thought about it all day since she mentioned it. Just wish I could get it done in the next couple of weeks to get it over with

Where I am you only get the referral if you are breastfeeding as it can cause severe latch issues. As your DS is formula fed just keep going and let your HV and GP know of the latch - they will tell you what to do to spot speech delays etc

We were still in hospital at the time, so I told the midwives that I wanted it checked properly and was pretty insistent about it. They arranged an appointment for us, so I would badger your midwife. This might not work if they only snip for breastfeeding though. (DS was 5 days old when his was snipped.)

Hi, congratulations firstly. Yes defo get it done, my baby had it I could see straight away and I didn't even know what it was, I was in hosp for 4 days due to birth, but he cudnt latch was awful they just discharge and said I'd get a referral in 6 weeks, struggled even with tiny baby bottle, got private lady to meet me at home the day we left, best 200 pounds ever spent,(South East) took literally a second she did it in the lounge. She's was here for 2 hours in total did assement before and after. Within secs he was latched. She said it was so bad she cudnt believe he was elft like that, would have affected speach and eating. There's no need to have it, its appeared painless. Expensive privately but if you can I'd recommend you get it. Goodluck, enjoy your lovely new baby.

DD2 had a bad tongue tie, still has to some extent as they could only snip it so far without cutting the meat of the tongue. It was snipped at 6 days old because she’s bf’d so we were referred. The consultant surgeon who snipped it said it was unlikely that a TT alone would cause speech issues. DD cried for a couple of minutes and then was fine so though.

Dc2, who was only breastfed until two weeks has one. They're in their late teens and have now been referred about it because it keeps getting stuck between their front teeth.

My second had it & I was in hospital a week after a problematic CS, they just took him off for literally two minutes at about 5 days old, bought him back & he was crying (but no more than any other cry) I just bf’d him straight away and he was calm and untroubled within about a minute (which presumably would be the same if ff, just make sure you have a bottle ready).

I think because it happened so quickly & I didn’t have a chance to overthink it (& I was barely with it!!) I wasn’t too traumatised either!! Is it something midwives can do on your home - it was a midwife in a cottage hospital that did ours so no medical kind of setting?

My baby had a bad tongue-tie, affecting breastfeeding.
I was told the NHS queue is about a month so went private, I was really desperate.
It's a 2min procedure, tiny amount of blood. The lady who did it is also a lactation consultant so she gave me great breastfeeding tips and support.

As a side note, my husband has an untreated tongue-tie and can't stick his tongue out much and it looks a bit weird, like a very short tongue.

DD2 had a posterior tongue tie - diagnosed by HV at 8 days. Midwife checked at 10 days and disagreed.

Saw a private lactation consultant and they confirmed TT. decided to have it snipped - but she was 6 weeks by the time we did it. Really wish we'd had it done straight away and not waited.

Congrats on your new baby.

Tongue tie isn’t covered by the NHS usually but that’s not to say it doesn’t cause issues - everything from feeding speech and posture/back problems in later life. My advice would be to get it cut, as others have said it’s a very minor procedure.
Enjoy life with your lo :)

I had speech problems all through childhood and couldn’t blow balloons up, whistle etc, but my tongue tie wasn’t diagnosed until I was 11. I had it cut under GA & then had to have lessons on how to use my tongue properly.

Whatever the research says, I wish they’d cut mine when I was a baby.

I had tongue tie cut at 11. (25+ years ago) couldn't get it all the way as too close to tongue. I still lisp but can get my tongue as far as my lip now

DS had a 95% tongue tie and we had it snipped, on the NHS but we would have gone private if they’d refused,. His tongue was nearly completely anchored down to the base of his mouth, he couldn’t stick it out at all. I can’t see how he could possibly have learned to talk normally with it like that.

I have had 2 children with a tongue tie. Both were cut, one at 12 weeks and one at 2 weeks. 1st child screamed the hospital down, but was screaming before the doctor did anything. The other child don’t make a sound and was happy and content during and after.
They wrapped baby in a towel and tilted them slightly upside down and it was done in seconds. No regrets here. My husband also has a tongue tie and can hardly stick his tongue out but hasn’t caused him any issues.

We had DS’s tongue tie cut at 12 weeks privately because he was formula fed. His tongue was pretty much stuck to the floor of his mouth at the tip and never would have gone past his lower teeth when he got them.

The consultant said it was impossible to say if it would affect speech but something else to consider was that he wouldn’t be able to clear food from his teeth during meals as he got older and possible have a higher rate of decay.