Attached Upper Lip Frenulum

MrsNicole&Brian808

I had no idea what this was until LO face-planted into our living room floor last Tuesday and tore his. I thought I'd share since I wish I had known about this sooner.  Here's a link with more info.  A couple of things:

1. If your LO ever rips his/hers, call the doctor, but don't panic!  There was so much blood and I freaked out, but the pedi said it's not an important structure and that the reason there was so much blood is because there's a tiny vein that runs through the frenulum and I think the saliva already present in his mouth made it look like more blood than there actually was.  The bleeding completely stopped within a couple of minutes.

ETA: Although LO's teeth seemed to be fine, the pedi told us to keep an eye on their color over the next couple of days.  If they began to turn gray, we would need to get LO to a pediatric dentist right away as this would be a sign that blood supply to the teeth has been compromised.

2. I never realized how "attached" his frenulum was until it ripped.  His was attached at the very bottom of his gumline, between his two front teeth.  After it had separated, I noticed that he started latching on differently while BF.  As a result, I suspect our latch issues after LO was born were partially due to his frenulum.  And no one (not even the LCs) mentioned it as a possible culprit!  With the help of a nipple shield and keeping at trying to latch him on directly, he figured it out and we've been successfully BFing since he was 6 weeks old.  Just something to keep in mind for newly nursing mothers. 

lola808

Ouch! Poor H!

A actually cut his frenulum too after falling on a suitcase. And this was just days after getting stitches in his lip from a different fall! The doctor said it was a good thing since it relieved the pressure on the healing lip. Still, though, all that blood was NOT a welcomed sight!

MrsNicole&Brian808

lola808:

Ouch! Poor H!

A actually cut his frenulum too after falling on a suitcase. And this was just days after getting stitches in his lip from a different fall! The doctor said it was a good thing since it relieved the pressure on the healing lip. Still, though, all that blood was NOT a welcomed sight!

Ooh, two lip injuries?!  Does stuff like this happen to little girls, too?

Lol...I was thinking about what I posted and even if someone told me not to panic, I would have still done so.  Blood is so scary!  And I didn't know where it was coming from because there was so much of it.  Thankfully, DH was home and was the calm one.  I was so worried that it was one of his teeth!

SanHawaii08

so scary!  i would have totally freaked out by all that blood.  poor H (and A!).  hope both little guys are feeling better now.

interesting that you could tell he latched differently right away - does it just feel different?  

thanks for sharing!  i had never heard of an attached upper lip frenulum

mrs.winter

I would have totally been freaking out!  So does he latch better now? I'm glad that all is okay though.

Married2MrWright

MrsNicole&Brian808:

Ooh, two lip injuries?!  Does stuff like this happen to little girls, too?

Yes! Libby has busted her lip a couple of times already (no stitches needed or anything) and bitten both her check and tongue until they bled! And you're right, it's scary to see all that blood coming out of their mouth and you're not quite sure where it's all coming from, if teeth are missing, etc. because they're screaming and you're trying to comfort them, stop the bleeding and figure out just how bad the entire situation is all in a matter of seconds!

I am sorry H busted his lip and hope his teeth will be okay....but YAY for a better latch as a result. Wow, I know LC's check the tongue for similar issues, but they should be checking the upper lip too!

MrsNicole&Brian808

SanHawaii08:

interesting that you could tell he latched differently right away - does it just feel different?  

It doesn't feel much different, but his latch looks a bit different.  I think his frenulum was preventing his upper lip from flaring out over my boob like how it should with a proper latch. So while sucking, his lower lip and tongue were doing all the work.  I'm so thankful H finally figured it out, though.  The mother in the link I posted above EP'd for 14 months because her son's frenulum prevented him from latching on.

SanHawaii08

MrsNicole&Brian808:

SanHawaii08:

interesting that you could tell he latched differently right away - does it just feel different?  

It doesn't feel much different, but his latch looks a bit different.  I think his frenulum was preventing his upper lip from flaring out over my boob like how it should with a proper latch. So while sucking, his lower lip and tongue were doing all the work.  I'm so thankful H finally figured it out, though.  The mother in the link I posted above EP'd for 14 months because her son's frenulum prevented him from latching on.

wow, i'm so glad you posted this, and that I asked.  once you mentioned H's upper lip not flaring, i checked too - E has the exact same thing!  it's also attached all the way down his gums, at the top of his teeth.  

when E was little, he nursed with his upper lip curled in.  I would use my finger to try to make it flare, but after a while, i gave up.  as he got older, it's now neutral when he nurses, flat against my boob.  i thought that was just the way he liked to suck (he constantly had a sucking blister on his top lip for the first few months of his life!) - didn't realize he might not actually be capable of flaring his lip out!  I wonder if it's hereditary. I'll have to check MH's when he gets home, hah.

i wouldn't be surprised if that contributed to our latch issues too!