Tongue tie 12 months? UK NHS

[buggybum]

Hi, looking for others experience in UK of getting an older baby (12 months) diagnosed with a tongue tie and getting it fixed on the NHS.
Baby is breastfed and never thought we had any issues, but he would be sick at least once a day (now think this may be because of a tongue tie causing him to swallow air). He gags on ALL food, any texture, he can't swallow it and gags often until he vomits.

He mouth breathes and snores very badly. After looking into it I really think he has a tongue tie. Have a doctors appointment at the end of the week but I'm nervous they'll fob me off, or that the waiting times to get something like this sorted will be ridiculous. Any advice or experiences welcome! Thank you

I would see if they would refer you to someone to assess his eating. I probably wouldn’t be quick to jump to tongue tie (and a GP will probably have no idea what to do about that in an older baby). But I’d focus on the eating issues as it’s likely to get you more traction (and if not a TT, likely to help lead you to the answer).

My DD had hers done age 11 months but privately.

Would you mind telling me a bit about the process and cost involved please?

Get the gp to look at his tonsils. My dd and ds both had abnormally large tonsils and had the same issues. Both have now had the. Removed and doing alot better

I agree. I'd be more inclined to have the GP look at their tonsils and get a referral to ENT. DD was a mouth breather, snored like a train and regularly gagged. But after they were shaved down everything improved.

All 3 of mine had tongue tie. They were snipped as newborns and still vomited about 20 times a day. I'd expect most babies do once a day!

The gagging and texture issues seme similar to a friend whose baby has massive tonsils. He had them removed just before 3 and it pretty much all stopped. I would ask them to check them too. You'll need someone more qualified than a gp to check a tongue tie especially if posterior and not immediately obvious. Have you tried any local breastfeeding support groups?

My little boy had tongue tie division at 4 weeks which unfortunately reattached so I went back to the GP when he was around 8 months as we were noticing difficulty again. We were referred to Great Ormond Street Hospital as nowhere in our area offers a service to babies over 6m. He ended up having another division under general anaesthetic (day surgery) just after his 1st birthday. Happy to answer any questions about this if you end up going down the same road xx

My dd had hers done at 2.5 as well moved areas so had to go back through referral.

She was then able to stick her tongue out and her lisp stopped.

Hi, could you tell me if he was having trouble eating solid foods or with his breathing? How did you go about getting the GP to refer you? I don't have much hope with our GP so I've looked into private a bit but would obviously prefer nhs!

Did the surgery help him? Sorry I have so many questions! Xx

@penrose22

@buggybum I took him to the GP as id noticed once we started weaning him that he couldn't seem to move food around properly and wasn't able to poke his tongue out enough to push food out so would gag quite a bit and it worried me. I thought his breathing was fine at the time but in hindsight he was definitely an open mouth breather/snorer at night.

Maybe we were just lucky with the GP we saw, but I think when I stressed my concern about him choking she was more inclined to refer.

We were really worried at the time that we were putting him through unnecessary surgery. He eats really well and talks very clearly now but who's to say whether he would have done anyway without the surgery. Even so, think it was the right decision for us. Worth a discussion with the GP at least I'd say! X

@penrose22 thank you so much! Honestly when o read about tongue ties and how they can cause this I nearly cried with relief because it sounds exactly like my boy and it's so good to have something to be able to get to the bottom of the problems! Xx