Has anyone out there had a tongue tied baby?

Has anyone had a tongue tied baby? My little girl is nearly 9 weeks old and was born tongue tied, I tried breast feeding her but because she was tongue tied I ended up so sore that I could only do it for 5 days, she was losing weight too because being tongue tied wouldn't let her suckle properly. She can poke her tongue out and can coo when I pull her bottom lip down slightly, but she is being referred to a paediatrician to see if she may need an operation to snip and stretch it, can anyone tell me exactly what will happen if they have had a tongue tied baby, I'm fretting incase she needs the op.
Any advice would be appreciated

Thanks

Claire

[blondie72]

I had a friend who had a baby who was toung tied.   I think she said they just clipped the tounge.  I think she pumped or expressed milk by hand and fed the baby through a medicine dropper or something like that.  That seems like a lot of trouble but she is VERY anti-formula.  I think she is one of the main reasons I stuck to nursing.  I did not want to deal with what she would say if I had stopped and went to a bottle.  She is even against breast milk in a bottle.  O well.  Back to your question she made it sound like it was not that bad and after it was done all was fine.  Good Luck.

[sm8]

My DD was tongue tied and I myself am tongue tied.  I wen't through years of speach therapy to learn how to talk being tongue tied.  The only thing I really know I can't do is stick my tongue out.  I chose to have my dd tongue clipped for several reasons.  
(1) So she wouldn't need speach therapy
(2) so she can lick Ice cream
(3) so she wouldn't be uncomfortable kissing as an adult.

I could go on and on if you wan't me to.  The operation itself was fairly easy.  They put a mask on her to put her to sleep and about 5 min later she was out of surgery.  They just cut the skin holding the tongue down and cauterize(sp?) it and that's pretty much it.

Here is a really informing website on the subject if your interested

http://members.tripod.com/~Caroline_Bowen/tonguetie.html

[JenNotSoSure]

Well..toungue tied babies are hereditary in my family's past. I was born toungue tied, and I remember my mom always telling me i got my toungue "clipped" because i would say my "y's" wrong. Like instead of "Yard sale" i would say "Lard sale" and "yellow" to me was "lellow" and i had the operation done when i was 4 i think. The only thing i can really say is that It's not too painful, and it helps out alot, and now i talk straight..! so i hope thats a little bit of help n advice..lol..and if it isnt, im sorry...but i tried..! good luck girl!

[nanakay]

what the heck is a tongue tied baby????
~nanci

[cdw]

I was a tongue tied baby. I'm 35 and doing just fine!! I know my mother said at birth the DR's found it corrected it while in the hospital. (back then woman were in the hosp for 5 days after vaginal birth) When my DD was born my mother right away looked to make sure her tongue was ok! Sorry I can't give you any current info on it. I'm sure everthing will work out just fine with her.

[snagglepuss1]

Thanks for your comments, I feel better now knowing abit more what to expect if she needs an op.

Nanakay, tongue tied is the piece of skin under the tongue that holds it to the bottom of the mouth my baby's is not stretched as much as it should be like most other baby's and when she opens her mouth it is almost right to the front of her tongue, it stops her poking her tongue out properly and suckling on either breast or bottle properly (she gets very messy under her chin when she has a bottle) the piece of skin has stretched since she was born I can see it has, so fingers crossed the hospital will say it is ok.

Thanks again for your comments

Claire

[skyepet5]

MY youngest son was a tongue tied baby he had trouble taking a bottle and sucking on the pacifer. We took him to the dentist and he clipped the tongue and now he is in speech but he is doing fine.

[rachw4]

I 5 year old in tongue tied. I would like to get it cliped but his Dad doesn't want to. My son  get upset when people don't understand him. I brakes my heart to know that he is having a hard time.
His dr. tells me to wait a while but the dentist says I need to get it done. Do you think I should wait or get it done.

[kris123]

My son was tongue tied and I took him to the dr. at 2w and they cliped it.  I was out of the room but it only took 1 min. and he was not crying when he came out.  I would take her to the Dr. and see about that.  

[chellybeans]

my little sister had that. they snipped it when she was a toddler and she never needed any speech therapy. her tongue did end up with a tiny split in the tip though.

[wisconsingoofball]

My son was, but not enough to cause any real problems, and eventually its stretched enough on its own. My nephew on the other hand still wasn't able to pronounce words at age 2, so they snipped his, and on the way home from the doctor he pointed at McDonald's and said "french fries". I think it's probably different with each child, so you should probably work closely with the doctors to decide on the best course of action.

[Bonnie86]

My daughter is tongue tied, she is 3 months old. I had trouble feeding her the first 2 weeks, it was very painful. In the third week she got the hang of breastfeeding  and is doing great now. I'm just worried that she will have speech problems. But worried that it will be to painful for her to get it clipped. Do you guys recommend I get it done now or when she is older?

[momof207]

My daughter is tongue tied and she is almost a year old. Will she be okay when she has the surgery? I hope so...Can someone give me some peace of mind?

[sonyaof5]

My daughter is 5 years old, and she was born tongue tied.  She has done fine in her preschool, and most people are unaware of her situation. When she was born I was never informed she had this condition,and she did have trouble breastfeeding and I supplemented her with formula. She was the first person to tell me that she had this condition, when she informed me as a four year old, that she could not lift her tongue.I have been given two different opinions from a surgeon and a pediatriian. The surgeon has told me she should have the skin beneath her tongue snipped, and the pediatrician believes she should not have any surgery done on her. The pediatrician believes that with practice and therapy, which she will need whether or not her tongue is snipped, will be what will help her speak clearly. A speech therapist who has worked with children with this challenge, says that she met a few children who's tongue was clipped and the connecting tissue grew back. She also said she knew a couple of children who had incredible difficulty controlling their tongue after the surgery, and that it did more harm then good to their speaking ablility.  I also have heard that surgeons are quick to say that children need this surgery because it is lucrative for them.  I am unsure of what is the best course of action for my daughter, but currently I am having her speech evaluated by our neighborhood school, and I am hoping to find out if she is making all the necessary sounds for speech or if she even needs therapy. I had never heard of this problem before, but inspite of this condition my daughter is bright and beautiful, and I have the highest hopes for her future, tongue tied or not. Perhaps being tongue tied makes her even more special!

[pertykitty]

my daughter is.  she is breastfeeding , and at 12 weeks seems to have stretched some.  i dont see a need to clip it unless issues with eating at this age.  mine is slightly tied and i wouldnt let my dds touch it lol.  when they are older it is a simple procedure, i cant see causing pain to a baby that cant understand why they hurt.

[wen615]

my baby girl is two weeks old and thay have told me my little baby girl is tongue tied. Thay said it would be better for her to have it done while she is little so she can feed better.  thay said it takes seconds to do it will hurt her a bit but thay said to feed her striaght away and she will forget it. Its better to get it done now while she is small. Otherwise when she gets a little older she will have to be  in hospitail and knocked out. and thay said worse when ther older.

[artiemd]

I am a pediatrician.

I prefer an individualized approach. Some things to consider:

The majority of children with tongue-tie (ankyloglossia) never develop any speech problems, even if untreated.  

Many cases of ankyloglossia even resolve or improve spontaneously, without treatment, before the child  starts to talk (eg, pertykitty, above).  Often the mobility of the tongue as a child gets older is much more than mioght have been expected in infancy.  The chances of this may depend on how tight or thick the band of tissue is.  

I do not like to recommend surgery for a problem that may never happen, especially if it is not a severe threat to life or health.  Even a minor surgery.  I think that we, parents and expecially physicians  tend to underestimate the pain and suffering of newborns and infants because they do not  verbalize it and cannot remember it.  So I would be wary of anyone who tells you that the procedure doesn't hurt much, or,  "she won't remember it anyway".

So, in most circumstances, I personally do not recommend treating tongue tie  in in newborns who are not having feeding problems solely for the purpose of preventing speech problems later.  I prefer to treat the speech problems in the FEW children who actually develop them.  

If an older child with tongue tie  develops speech problems, I would recommend trying to get an opinion of a speech therapist with expertise in children and infants about whether the tongue-tie is actually the problem.  Sometimes, it is not, but since the tongue tie is readily apparent, physicians and parents don't look any further.  Or, it is not the only problem.  Often, there is no change after surgery, even with continued therapy.  What a disappointment it would be to subject your child to a painful procedure and then discover that the tongue tie wasn't even the real problem.

Is your child actually having trouble feeding?  Usually, if there is a problem at all, breastfeeding is the problem, not bottle feeding.  

If the baby is having feeding problems, are you sure that the problem is because of the the tongue-tie?  Again, because the tongue tie is obvious, sometimes people look no further and don't consider the possibility of other problems.  If possible, I would try to get the expert  opinion of a well trained lactation consultant or speech or occupational therapist who has expertise in newborn feeding  before subjecting a child to surgery.   Again, in some cases there is no real change in feeding after the surgery, and only then are other diagnose sought out.  Perhaps the patient could have been spared the discomfort if evaluated first.  These specialists may not be that easy to find, however.  At least, get your pediatrician to observe a couple of feedings prior to committing your child to surgery.

Another reason given to treat is if problems with oral hygeine develop.  Some say that the mobility of the tongue is important for the ability to clean out debris in the mouth.  Again, this does not turn out to be a problem for most kids, so why not wait and see?

As far as kissing, I would wait to see if that is a problem, then let the child determine if it matters enough to them to get it repaired for that reason.  Parents don't need to make that decision for their child.  To me that seems to be a personal decision that has no real urgency to be repaired in childhood.



I know that many of the posters here have had children with significant problems due to tongue tie.  However, the majority of the children with tongue tie do not have any problems with speech, and many do not have trouble with feeding.  People who have not had problems are going to be much less likely to post to a thread like this, so I wanted to present another view.

I do not mean to minimize the issues presented by many of the posters here.  I only mean to remind parents faced with this in newborns that there is another side--the majority of children who have no major problem with this condition.  In many kids but admittedly not all kids, this is a minor cosmetic problem only.  

I prefer to take the odds that the child will never have problems.  These odds are significantly better than 50%.  I don't know of any long term sequelae of waiting to see if a problem developed.

I do not mean to offend anyone here, and I know that there are many parents and physicians who look at the same data and who come down on the side of treatment.  

This is a matter of opinion, and there may be no "right" answer that fits everyone.  

I just wanted to present the other side.  I know that I am probably more conservative than many other physicians who care for children.

[sp320]

My 17-month old son is "tongue-tied."  He is struggling with speech, and his inability to speak is clearly frustrating him.  He tries to communicate in other ways, but you can see that he wants to speak and be understood.  We had him evaluated by a speech therapist, and her fist comment was that the "ankyloglossia" (tongue-tie) is very likely a factor.   The speech therapist believes that his tongue -tie is restricting him from being able to pronounce syllables/words that use the front of the tongue.  And she felt that if we have his tongue clipped, he should make rapid progress.

He seems to hear well.  He responds to requests, i.e. "go pick up the ball," or "throw the paper in the garbage can."  And he understands when we communicate with him.

We have known about the tongue-tie since birth.  Unfortunately we were told having it clipped was an easy procedure.  We were not told, that after the child is 6 months old, this is a more serious procedure, as the child must be put under.  While it only lasts approximately 5 minutes, had we known that the procedure would require anastheogoly (past 6 months of age); we would have chosen to have his tongue clipped sooner.  

We are in the process of deciding how to proceed.  Weather we try speech theoropy for a few months and re-evaluate or if we address the situation now.  The therapist felt that if we don't have his tongue clipped now, it will continue to challenge his speech and slow his progression.   Obviously we don't want to put him through any pain; however we also want to eliminate any barrier that would keep him from progressing.  

[lyntj]

My husband is Tonguetied, his tongue is attatched right on the tip not underneath. It causes no problems for his speech or for him personally. My youngest son is now 5 he was born semi tongue tied so his tongue is attatched half way instead of at the back, he couldn't latch on to breast feed either as the roof of his mouth is also high and pointed. I was asked if I wanted it snipped but he was also born with severe bilateral talipes, (club feet) Which is also connected to cleft pallette, raised toe syndrome and we had to much to deal with doing the physio and visiting hospital to have his strapping tightened to put him through that aswell. My son had speech therapy for 2 years but this was due to the muscles in his mouth being weak, as is his throat reflux, he has no remaining problems with his speech now although the reflux didn't strengthen as the doctors said it would.

[karl33]

i have very bad speech problems and i had speech therapy when younger and they said i could be tongue tied but never went back im nineteen years old and its effecting me more than ever now, as im going though a hell of a lot of changes could i still get my tounge clipped ?

[tiredbuthappy]

yes, you can. you will need speech therapy to help you learn to articulate certain sounds after the procedure

[BEEMOM]

My 1st born son had a tongue tie and he was born during march break when the clipping doctor was away.  We didn't get it cut...our doctor told us to wait...it will stretch....well I will not listen to him...I should have went with the nagging voice in my head.  My 1st born is now 4 and we just had it clipped a week ago as he is having difficulties with speech.  He can say "sn" words.  So now we are not actively looking for a private speech therapist but I have seen a bit of improvement already.  In our case we had a very bad outcome from listening to the doctor.....PLEASE LISTEN TO WHAT YOUR HEART IS TELLING YOU....DON'T WAIT DO IT NOW...and maybe you can avoid expensive private speech therapy!!  

Our 2nd born had a tongue tie as well and it was clipped in the hospital at birth...he didn't even cry.  I am very curious to see how his speech progresses....he is 4mths old.

I will send an update later once we complete some speech therapy.

[tezza588]

my 14 month old girl is tongue tied i am off to see the consultant today about it. i am really want them to snip it as i think it is going to affect her speech as she doesnt even say anythink now at 15 months an i can see the frustration in her trying her best to talk.
i have looked it up to go private but the cost is a bit to much but if that is my last thing i will find the money.
thanks for all the other comments they really helped me

[passionatebri79]

Hi! My last 2 girls were tongue tied! My now 10 month old is still. I opted to have neither clipped with surgery. I took both to Children's Hospital in Seattle and they said they prefer not to do the surgery these days unless it impedes on the child's speaking ability in a major way or they just can't eat in any form!

I too way severely sore and even bled and cried with this last child. She was loosing weight rapidly and went from 7lbs to under 5. She was in the 3% for success for thriving. She could and would not take a bottle and didn't know how to nurse because of her tongue tie.

Then, I went to a lactation consultant for several weeks. I found out that there is actually more than 1 way to actually be tongue-tied. Her tongue literally sticks to the roof of her mouth. Making it almost impossible to get a good suction, thus hurting.  I almost gave up. But then, We began to really work with baby Addy, and I in the mean time bought lanolin and always was putting it on my nipples, even when I wasn't nursing to help them heal.

She now knows and loves to nurse! And the doctors and Children's said that we made the right call in "teaching" baby Addison how to nurse with her handicap. She is the chubbiest, little girl, I've ever seen! And we always get comments on how much she must love to eat! And before we started her on solids at 6 months, we said, and it's all from "momma's milk!" To this day, baby Addy happily nurses and hates to skip a feeding! I can tell you though. She also has severe reflux, which made life much more challenging. And that is another reason it was so hard to get her to eat. And because of that, she still refuses a bottle and any type of formula! She's an all-natural gal!

If you have any questions, feel free to ask! I can tell you more on how we got her to start nursing, etc.

Bottom line, don't give up! And DON'T be pressured into a surgery!  My 2 year old who also is tongue tied, we went through the same nursing things and she came out just as great! No surgery! Also, She is deaf in her right ear, so if it's someone who would need it for speech problems, it'd be her! But she is in speech therapy, and we can understand her just fine! But she is in it because she is partially deaf, not because she is tongue-tied!

Good Luck!

Bri

[PrincessCEY]

I don't know what to do my little girl is tongue tied and she has no problem latching on and is feeding very well. My doctor said she’s fine why get it done, but I’m just wondering if we should do it because i never knew that it can effect speech. She was born august 7th 2011 at 8 pounds 4 oz i went to the doctor today for her 2 week check-up and she is 8 pounds 12 oz. What should I do?

[proudmommy541]

my baby is tongue tied and her doctor said she didnt need hers clipped yet because she can suck her bottle but when it get closer to her talking shell be getting it clipped.  They can clip or burn it and getting a babys ear pierced hurts worse.  Theres many videos on youtube of babys getting it done one got clipped then went right to there mother to get feed.  If I was you I wouldnt worry you wouldnt believe how many people have them.  

[LynCS]

Firstly I'd like to say I'm not a medically qualified individual but a mum that has lived through a tongue tie case with my son.  My son had tongue tie at birth and I tried to avoid any intervention.  On the whole I suppose every case is unique and should be considered individually.  He is now 13yrs old.  In many respects, I wish I'd had his tongue snipped at a young age when habits hadn't formed.  

As a baby and youngster, eating soft food wasn't a problem.  I breast fed for 13months which initially was a challenge, but later not a problem.  Slowly, when he started to talk, I noticed a speech impediment.  I went to see a speech therapist who said there wasn't a problem but years later, he still doesn't pronounce things properly and I have to constantly nag him.  I'm convinced this inability to pronounce correctly (especially the 'th' sounds where he makes a 'v' sound) stemmed from being tongue tied.

At the age of around 8 years old he developed a fear of swallowing.  Tongue tie prevents children from massaging food effectively on the tongue/inside the mouth, to enable it to to be moved back inside the mouth and eventually swallowed.  He had certain fear of eating 'stringy' type food and at school this was beyond my control.  If sausage wasn't cut properly for example, he had the odd near choking experience.  This whole thing developed and knocked his confidence.  He eventually wouldn't eat and ended up in hospital and in a very serious condition, which took him over a year to recover from and with medical intervention and artificial feeding.  His tongue was eventually snipped but far too late and at a time when this perhaps made matters worse.

So ... I'm sure every case should be very carefully medically examined by an expert in this field however.  If I had time over again, we could have saved ourselves a lot of heart ache by having taken care of this at a young age.

[msroman]

My son is tongue tied both bottle and breastfed he eats fine just sometimes takes a bit to latch. i say pump until u can have the proceedureto clip it. i talked to the pediatrician its very simple they do it there in the office. i dont want to but its better for him...... look up the side effects for tongue tied when there older.   Theres a lot