# Tongue tied newborn...to clip?



## leafwood (Jun 15, 2004)

Ds is just over 2 weeks. He is tongue tied, I think it's the "simple" type where his tongue isn't heart shaped unless he tries to stick it out. It's just attached very far up is tongue. 2 peds have mentioned it and said that since he's gaining they won't do anything. He is having issues with rapid breathing and we are seeing an ENT Thursday to see if he thinks cliping will help with the breathing. As far as BF, he clicks, has trouble latching on (epsecially when fussy!), but he gets tons of milk. I begin to let down before he latches and he just swallows to eat. He is gassy, which I think is from the poor latch. He usually eats for 8-15 min from one side per feeding for about 8-11 feedings a day. Tons of wet/soiled diapers. He was born at 6-15 and was 7-3 by day 4. At 2 weeks he was 7-11. I think this is why the peds aren't concerned. My nipples aren't particularly sore anymore, but my breasts are.

I am just wondering if anyone had luck with clipping since the peds seem leary to do it. Hopefully the ENT will be more informed and will be able to inform me, but just in case, I want to know what to expect.

TIA!


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## PatioGardener (Aug 11, 2007)

First of all, congratulations on your baby!









Have you seen an LC? I guess my worry would be that he is only growing well because he is guzzling the let down milk, and not actually latching on well. This may lead to a decrease in milk supply in the long term.

Peds often don't take brestfeeding into account when evaluating tongue-ties. A good IBCLC would give you a breastfeeding second opinion.

That being said, not all tongue-ties need to be clipped. While tongue-ties do increase the risk of breastfeeding troubles, some tongue-tie babies have no problems at all.

Good luck!


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## jillian+1 (Aug 30, 2007)

I'm no expert, but I would be worried about later when your supply calms down a bit and he can't just swallow the letdown milk. Will he have latch problems then? Is it harder to fix latch problems later than earlier? Will your supply ultimately suffer from the lack of proper nipple stimulation? Hopefully the ENT will know, if not definitely seek out an ICBLC.

Good luck!


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## veganone (May 10, 2007)

No personal experience, but I have a good friend who's son had a similar tie and was told that the same thing. She ended up quitting bfing at 4 months because of his latch issues even though her LO was gaining fine... I would seriously think about clipping - she ended up having to do it as soon as he started solids anyway.

I also agree that you need a good LC to evaluate latch and such. The gassiness could very well be because he's only getting the foremilk (sugary letdown milk) and isn't getting enough hind milk (fattier milk) since he has latch issues. The clicking and poor latch would really worry me.


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## superfastreader (Aug 6, 2007)

see our story in my sig--we started out fine but crashed at 3wks.


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## PatioGardener (Aug 11, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *superfastreader* 
see our story in my sig--we started out fine but crashed at 3wks.

This is what would worry me most about a tongue-tie.


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## PPK (Feb 15, 2007)

DS had tongue tie, we found out on the third day. I don't know what degree it was, but he couldn't stick his tongue past his gumline, it was generally in heart shape, and nursing was a horrific expereince! We waited till the 10th day to get it clipped (we wanted to wait at least to give him a peaceful week on the planet first).

It took about 3 clips, and wasn't totally painless, but he nursed right afterward and was fine immediately. No regrets!

It still took about 2 weeks for him to figure out how to stick his tongue out, and after that things got so much better!

I swear, those first few weeks I was literally crying in pain w/every latch on.

I would recommend doing it b/c they say the tissues get firmer and tougher to clip as easily, the older one gets. It can also impede speech-not cool. I wouldn't wait, personally.

superfastreader,

interesting about the adult tongue-tie. My sister had that same thing to widen her palate and I had something similar, but not as extreme. Neither of us were bf, but wonder if we have mild cases of it. I wondered where he got it from.


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## new_mom_RS (Jan 20, 2008)

Hi congratulations on your little one. My daughter also had a tongue-tie which was pointed out to me by a lactation consultant when she was approx. 2 weeks old. I had a heck of a time breastfeeding from the start. I cried a lot those first weeks. She became so frustrated that she refused the breast during the 3rd week and I would pump and use a bottle. It was really depressing. I struggled with having a frenotomy (clipping the shortened frenulem) but ultimately we took her to a pediatric surgeon and it was the easiest thing you can imagine. No crying at all, well I cried a little bit because I was so worried, plus major pregnancy hormones....anyway, I am so happy we had it done. She latched on again with some help from the lactation consultant and we are still breastfeeding successfully now (she is 3 1/2 months). I hope this helps! Good luck!


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## Madelyn'sMomma (Jan 24, 2008)

Hi there, Congrats on your baby!
My DD was tongue tied badly...her tongue was heart shaped even when she didn't stick it out. We ended up getting her frenulum clipped for the following reasons:
1. Poor latch, which was a problem because she wasn't able to get enough milk, and was also bad for me because I was so engorged because of oversupply, I ended up getting mastitis.

2. My doctor and LC said she would probably have speech problems when she's older cause she couldn't stick her tongue to the roof of her mouth (like when you say the sound "th")

3. to prolong the amount of time I want to Breastfeed. I plan to do it until she doesn't want to anymore, and she definitely would not have been able to continue due to not getting enough milk, and my nipple pain, which was extremely terrible...she creased my nipples because she developed bad way of suckling.

SO in my opinion, I think it's a good idea to clip the frenulum, especially since you said your doctor recommended it....ive heard that many of them don't as long as the baby is getting enough to eat. H ope this helps!


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## a22lamia (Feb 28, 2007)

The degree of my newborn's (1 week 2 days old) tongue tie sounds very similar to yours, although in my case he wasn't gaining weight. We had his frenulum clipped this morning and it made a huge difference. He latched perfectly right away and is feeding like a champ.

If I were in your situation I would do it. The procedure was quick and apparently painless and trying to breastfeed with a poor latch is no fun.


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## MaryJaneLouise (Jul 26, 2005)

Yes, I definitely would. It's a pretty simple operation. The hard part is finding someone to do it. Pretty ironic since so many peds do circs but not tongue ties







.

I'm trying to make an FAQ on the topic

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=833815

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=833815


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## stanswife (Jul 30, 2006)

My 2 month old recently had his posterior tongue tie clipped and it was *amazing* the immediate difference this made on his latch. I researched quite a bit and as others have mentioned having an unclipped tongue tie can have long term implications on swallowing, speech, teeth and palate, etc. Not to mention breastfeeding; I'm still nursing my 2 year old and I wanted to protect my BF relationship with my new one, too.

My son was gaining weight quite well and I had no nipple pain, but he was fussy and sucking lots of air. We were nursing every 30 minutes and I had to keep my finger in his mouth just to keep him from screaming. He was just never satisfied, poor baby. We met with a LC and she recommended I go to see Dr. Betty Coryllos in Long Island, which was a 4 hour drive from us. I cannot recommend her enough. It was worth our drive and I would have driven even further now that I know what a big difference this made. It was traumatic, but losing out on the benefits of breastmilk would have been even more so. HTH and good luck. Congrats on your sweet one.

ETA: I would not put much stock in what your pediatrician or ENT says about this. They are generally not informed, especially as it relates to bf. In reading up on people who've done this, most of them met with some resistance from their docs. Dr. Coryllos even said that she was laughed at when she discovered the posterior tie and people thought she was crazy. If you google her name, you'll discover an article she wrote that's pretty informative.


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## sarah0404 (May 28, 2006)

Hi, my ds has some sort of a tongue tie too. He has the heart shaped tongue. It was very hard to get him latched on properly - I had to hold him in a certain way and sometimes I wished I had 3 hands! All the clicking drove me mad too. No one ever suggested having it clipped though. The dr at the hospital recommended that we just keep an eye on it.

He's 3 months old now, and has stopped clicking completely. Feeding him is no longer painful and he's now a hefty 16 and a half pounds. He latches on perfectly. He still has a heart shaped tongue though. I do worry that he might have speech issues when he's a bit older, but I'll just have to wait and see. Time really improved things for us.

Congrats on your new arrival!







I hope you find a solution you are happy with. (interestingly my ds also had very fast breathing - which scared me a lot, but that too has also resolved itself.)


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