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Hawaii Babies
redshoegirl
member
*lisak - tongue tie?*
redshoegirl
member
I could be thinking of the wrong person, but didn't you say in your birth story (or at some other point) that J had some tongue tie issues at birth? Do you mind if I ask if you got it snipped?
The reason I'm wondering is because both Will and Dash are tongue tied. We left it alone at a pediatrician's recommendation because the boys weren't seeming to have any problems feeding, but as time goes on I'm wondering if that was the right choice. Lately they seem to be having more difficultly latching on - not just to me, but to a bottle as well.
It's hard to explain, but it's like they have to fight to get the bottle in the right position in their mouth before they can suck, and their tongue isn't able to help position it (they tend to shake their heads back and forth and open their mouths wide, and I can see their tongue working but it's not really "grabbing" the nipple because it can't be extended enough). They also tend to lose suction on the bottle nipple and suck down air (not so much on the boob, presumably since flesh is more flexible).
We're seeing my doctor for our 6-week check up this Friday, and I'm wondering if it would be worthwhile discussing this with her...I don't know if snipping it would help them?
This discussion has been closed.
Re: *lisak - tongue tie?*
Yes, J has tongue-tie but it doesn't seem to be interfering with his latch with me, the bottle, or paci. His tongue can actually extend a wee bit over his gum line so while he can't stick his tongue out fully, it must be enough to allow him to suck effectively.
Amy's little boy had latch issues with his tongue-tie but she said that they weren't able to figure it out until he was a few months old? He got his snipped but Amy mentioned that if they had known about it earlier, she would have wanted the procedure done when he was younger.
I really do hope J's tongue-tie doesn't affect his speech because I would hate to make him go through the snipping at a much older age. If we got it done now, at least he wouldn't remember the pain, right? Nicole's brother has tongue-tie but he's fine so I'm hoping for the same with J. The fact that he's sucking well makes me think that we'll be okay.
If I was you, I'd definitely bring it up to your doctor, especially since you mention that they're starting to have a bit of a problem with latching. I know that some babies are picky about nipples so maybe it could just be that maybe they've decided that they no longer like the bottle nipple you're using but I'd still bring it up to their doctor anyways.
Our boys are about the same - they can extend their tongue over their gum line, but not much further (they couldn't stick it way out, for example).
Yeah, the speech thing makes me nervous too...I would hate to think everything was OK and then have to go through the procedure at a later age. I think if they're under 12 weeks old then they don't even use anesthetic because the nerve clusters aren't developed enough - that's what I read on one site, anyway, and from all of the comments I've read online from parents, babies this young don't seem to feel it (a few people say that their child seemed more upset to be gently held down than they were about the snipping).
I hadn't thought about changing the bottle nipples, that's a good idea! We're actually using two different types of bottles, and they tend to do it with both (they also tend to leak milk out of the corners of their mouths now, both when breastfeeding and bottlefeeding), but it could be the bottles...I'll still chat to my doctor about it though.
DH found this link
if you scroll to the bottom there are other links to other articles too. i haven't read any of them but in case you wanted to do some research of your own, it's a start....
Jaime & Brent
Oahu, Hawaii | Sept. 9, 2005
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