Does anyone know if tongue tie can be corrected after 12 weeks?

[MintGreenLife]

Had some support with breastfeeding last week and was told DS has suspected tongue tie. We are getting a referral on the NHS, however he is 9 weeks now, and I’m worried that if he goes past 12 weeks he won’t be able to have it corrected without being put under, is that right? Referral for the assessment apparently takes 2-4 weeks.

I'd go private if you can afford it. Much much quicker, sometimes same day appointments. Google association of tongue tie practitioners

Do it privately if you can. Lots of practitioners

We are not in the UK but my 5 day old had hers done two days ago and the doctor mentioned that children over 12 months require GA.

Good luck, I hope you can get it sorted ASAP - you’ve done really well to persevere with breastfeeding until now, tongue tie can be so painful and frustrating for you both!

My tongue tie didn’t get diagnosed and treated until I was 11 - GA, two nights in hospital. I had speech difficulties for most of my childhood & once it was snipped I had to have lessons to use my tongue. I still can’t blow up balloons, & dental X-rays are tricky because I just can’t open my mouth that far.

Even if it goes over 12 weeks, it’s so worth getting it done.

I'd still do it, no matter how many weeks. Get it done ASAP privately or by nhs or any way you can. You won't regret it. At all.

IIRC it is over 9 months they need to think about a general anaesthetic. My baby was snipped at 11 weeks, it was quick and straightforward and the best decision. Good luck.

Thanks so much everyone! I’ll be furious with myself if we find out NHS won’t do it under GA after 12 weeks 😥 when he was first born a midwife mentioned he might have tongue tie, but I was led to believe unless it caused issues with feeding it wouldn’t necessarily need sorting, and we’ve been trouble free with feeding up until the last few weeks when he’s started latching on and off frequently and fussing a lot. We were in hospital until he was 9 days old and have continued to go back and forth for various blood tests and scans, so I’ve had so much going on that I near enough forgot about the tongue tie until the fussy feeding started. Feel awful for overlooking it!

We will go private though if necessary. So good to know they will do it up to 9 months! With the way feeding is going we will seek advice for his tongue tie ASAP. He’s gaining weight well though at around 7oz per week. We just have extremely long and frequent feeds, plus this fussing now, and I’m starting to find it all completely exhausting if I’m honest.

Meant will be annoyed at myself if we can’t have the procedure done with our GA. it’s almost 5am and my brain is frazzled so can’t workout how to word it properly!

Why is everyone having their tongue tied baby’s cut?

If they can eat, then there is no need. Starting fussing is normal and nothing to do with tongue tie, most babies do it.

Honestly though, why are you all having the baby’s tongues cut? Is it seen as wrong or a mistake, or is it a beauty flaw?

I’m tongue tied and no one would even know if I didn’t say.

Two of my babies had tongue tie but it didn’t affect feeding or their speech. They elected to have them snipped when they were teenagers. Our dentist did one and the other attended the local hospital but as an out patient and it took no time at all. Neither had a GA and both were happy with how it was done. My daughter went on to have her tongue pierced!

My DS tongue tie was snipped at around 5-6 months without GA.

He'd always had difficulty feeding (couldn't latch properly, took in loads of air so got bad indigestion etc) The HVs were absolutely useless and just said he was 'fussy' so I went to the Gp in desperation and he spotted it straight away- the snip solved everything!

The Dr explained why it wouldn't hurt DS (I think he said there are no nerve endings in the bit they snip?) - it didn't bother DS at all, he just looked a bit surprised and had a nice BF immediately afterwards.

F

I’m tongue tied and no one would even know if I didn’t say.

Nobody knew I was because for some stupid reason it didn’t get picked up for years. But they knew they couldn’t understand me. I’d encourage everyone to get them snipped whether feeding is affected or not, you just don’t know what the effects are going to be.

@GiveMeAUserName123 🤦🏻‍♀️ I wasn’t aware that you had come out and assessed my babies feeding. How do you know that the fussiness isn’t caused by tongue tie? Also at no point did I say I was definitely getting it cut - I simply want an an assessment to better understand what’s best for my baby, and his individual circumstances.

@OnlyFlans that’s good news your DS had it done later on, was that on the NHS?

There’s every chance his tongue tie will never cause any issues for him, but there’s also a chance it will. For everyone it’s different, and in some cases the tongue tie is mild and it’s not necessary to have it cut, in others there are benefits to snipping it, this is why the assessment is done, to see if the procedure is necessary, and when it’s your child’s future, health and well-being why wouldn’t you have the assessment done.

We had an assessment but chose not to snip despite feeding problems because it was borderline and really early days (less than 2 weeks). DS referral took less than a week on the NHS so hopefully it’ll be sorted.

@PurBal that’s good news, hopefully we find the same x

@MintGreenLife yes- NHS. But this was some years ago and the waitlist wasn't too long. I would have gone private otherwise as it was causing so much difficulty.

@GiveMeAUserName123

Why is everyone having their tongue tied baby’s cut?

If they can eat, then there is no need. Starting fussing is normal and nothing to do with tongue tie, most babies do it.

Honestly though, why are you all having the baby’s tongues cut? Is it seen as wrong or a mistake, or is it a beauty flaw?

I’m tongue tied and no one would even know if I didn’t say.

I agree. DH has tongue tie. He's 60, and it doesn't seem to have bothered him at any point in his life, although I wouldn't know how well he fed when he was a baby.

@GiveMeAUserName123

Why is everyone having their tongue tied baby’s cut?

If they can eat, then there is no need. Starting fussing is normal and nothing to do with tongue tie, most babies do it.

Honestly though, why are you all having the baby’s tongues cut? Is it seen as wrong or a mistake, or is it a beauty flaw?

I’m tongue tied and no one would even know if I didn’t say.

Because tongue tie often negatively effects breastfeeding, sometimes mildly, sometimes severely. And it can sometimes lead to issues later in life too. It's good that your own TT is mild and has caused no issues, but this isn't the case for many.

For the people who aren’t planning to get it cut - if your child does have trouble talking later on, please consider that this might be the reason.

My son has a posterior tongue tie, was offered a cut at birth, then at 3 weeks when it was blamed for feeding woes. I declined as his tongue looked fairly normal to me (!) and evidence for doing it not strong. In the end fed to 6 months fine, is now two and talks fairly understandably.

Snipped my LO's because he literally couldn't latch properly and my nipples were being shredded. I felt the difference as soon as it was snipped on day 3 and feeding became a lot easier for the poor bubba. Appreiacte it's not the same for everyone but in our case it was causing obvious problems, poor weight gain etc.

It’s all down to individual circumstances, for many getting it cut is the right thing, for others leaving it is best. Those having a go at people saying it’s a ‘trend’ really shouldn’t comment when they don’t have a clue what the mother and baby might be going through as a result of baby being tongue tied. I would never judge someone for leaving a tongue tie in place if that’s what they felt was best for you their child.

@MintGreenLife Did you end up getting your little one’s tongue tie snipped? And did it help? X