Tongue Tie Advise

[Alitlebitsleepy]

DS is 5 days old. The midwife visited today and noticed he has a tongue tie. He is EBF and I have noticed that he feeds in very short bursts and will unlatch, need burping and then fuss for a feed again. He will relatch several times in between burping and the cycle will last about 30 mins until he’s done. He’s gulping a lot of air and often doesn’t open his mouth quite wide enough for a decent latch.

However, he’s putting on weight fine and having plenty of wet and dirty nappies. I am not finding breastfeeding uncomfortable. The midwife therefore advised that she wouldn’t bother doing anything about the tongue tie.

mummy concern is that if I don’t address the tongue tie, could this lead to speech issues later on? Also, I plan on feeding DS for quite a while (I fed DD for 18 months) and don’t want him having latch and gas issues for this whole time. I understand that it’s easier to address a tongue tie when babies are small so I am worried that I could regret leaving things.

I'm looking for other peoples experiences and whether you think it is worth seeking to have DS’s tongue tie snipped? Or should I leave it?

My concern* not mummy concern!

We had ours done on the NHS when ds was 9 weeks old roughly. It was posterior. Sadly it didn't end in the breastfeeding journey I wanted but I am glad we had it done due to the potential speech issues you mention. He didn't react to the procedure just didn't like the position he was help in. I would have it done.

I would get it snipped. DD has posterior tongue tie and her issues with latch, wind and colic got progressively worse until she had it snipped. She also couldn't open her mouth very wide and this improved a little bit after the snip but her latch improved quite lot. The colic and wind significantly improved and she went from bring a fractious baby to a normal baby.
She was at her worst around 2-3 weeks old, her tongue tie wasn't identified until 3weeks and snipped at 5 weeks on the nhs.

Ask mw, I'd advise getting it snipped asap.

I will say like pp, I still didn't end up with the breastfeeding plan I wanted but it was better than if I'd not had it done. I ended up combi feeding. DD is 13 weeks now and I'm ready to stop breastfeeding but at least she's had 3 months of breast milk and I've enjoyed feeding her.

Exactly the same here. I had to pump to Combi feed and after 3 months my MH is just suffering too much.

Get it snipped, DS's tongue tie didn't impact his ability to feed as a baby so it was left. He then had the op at 3yrs due to speech delay and difficulty with some foods.

Get it snipped! It did affect my DD feeding a lot and she relearnt how to feed and I breastfed her until she was just over 2. But even if I wasn't bf I would want it snipped. NHS will avoid doing it if possible once older and it is a lot harder for them in terms of they will fight it more.

First of all congratulations!

Our DD was gaining weight perfectly. But she was gulping air and it led to reflux. First 9 days were ok. Day 10 the reflux started. She drank more to ease the pain... it became a never ending story.

Luckily we asked for help, found a certified lactation specialist with tongue tie experience and she referred us to a specialist team. They explained a lot...

Tongue tie influences/ may influence breast feeding, solid feeding, speech, positioning of teeth, formation of palate and the nasal cavity ( so also how a cold will affect a person). Also, you (subconsciously) clean your teeth with your tongue after eating. So you may need extra dental visits as there is a higher risk of cavity formation. What I didn't notice was that our DD balled her fists and clenched her feat when trying to feed. Her hands were not relaxed, not open.

The aftercare, to prevent reattachment of the tongue tie, was not nice. Luckily we needed no physiotherapy or suchlike to 'unclench' her body/get the last tension out.
Despite the difficult aftercare, I would do it again. It has made a big big difference. Please ask an IBCLC certified person to make an assessment.

Definitely recommend getting it divided. Our LO's tongue tie was only spotted at 4 weeks as his poos suddenly turned bright green, which meant he was having an imbalance of milk (only foremilk). We went private to get it done and it was well worth it

My son had a very small tongue tie (almost non-existent according to the consultant) but I got it divided anyway (hard decision!!!) because I felt that I should do whatever I could to help him latch better (he had colic) and swallow less air. It helped his latch IMMEDIATELY. I am glad I did it.

Congratulations ❤.

With my DD1 - it wasn't detected she had tongue tie until she was 4 weeks old after I noticed she was throwing up a lot after feeds (combi fed). I went to a local centre for a weigh in clinic to see how her weight was and question why she kept being sick. The advisor asked if she had been checked for tongue tie and it turned out she had it as she couldn't extend her tongue nor lift it up far. That was then I found out there was two types of tongue tie. Where we live - the clinic would only run once a month at our local hospital but if we were willing to travel to another hospital it would have been put through as an urgent referral as she wasn't putting on much weight.

We were seen 2 weeks later at a different hospital in a different county and it was the best decision. We were really looked after and she latched on straight away and soon gained weight quickly. With DD2 who is now 12 weeks old - I insisted she was checked before leaving the hospital.

Thank you so much for all of your advice. It sounds like you’re all in agreement that having it cut would be the best option. I am going to speak with midwife on Tuesday about it and then look into booking an assessment with a lactation consultant.

There are different ways to treat a tongue tie. With scissors or laser. We went for the latter option. Please ask around for different providers so you can make an informed choice.
Wishing you all the best.

Just to add a different perspective from the general consensus... We were advised my DD had a tongue tie and offered it snipped. I chose not to go ahead as she was putting on weight fine, and can confirm she has no speech problems 10 years later. Can't comment on it from a breastfeeding perspective though so do what is right for you, my DD was bottle fed from the beginning.

My LO had tongue tie was told on his day 3 check. I was not BF so they brushed it off and said nothing to worry about i wouldn’t bother doing anything. So i didn’t - fast forward to 3 weeks old he developed horrific colic and reflux - which i do put down a lot to the tongue tie (if you do some research that also says it can be the cause) He has always put on weight and is a big baby so that was not an issue. But anyways we paid private to get it cut and it was the best decision we made, when he was assessed he was 100% tongue tied and would have had problems with speech later on in life. So i am very annoyed our midwife and health visitor passed it off as no problem because he was feeding ok and putting on weight. It was done in a matter of seconds, and he was totally fine. I would always say to anyone get it done when they are so small.

They won't cut it on the nhs if you're bottle feeding where we live. It's totally unfair. At the time I was referred, DD was bottle feeding terribly and luckily I was still pumping. The midwife said if I put her to the breast at each feed then I would be classed as breastfeeding. I wanted to breastfeed anyway, I only stopped on the advice of the hv due to the pain and how the whole saga was affecting my mental health.
Her tongue tie was missed 4 times in 2.5 weeks.

I would also agree get it snipped. We did our dd and although I personally didn't like the process everyone else had a chuckle at my reaction. Bf was still not perfect but better and dd is none the wiser. The risks of not having it sorted are greater than the procedure itself I think.