Tongue-Tie & A "WTH?!" Comment

StrawberryAlarmClock · July 2012

Does anyone have any experience with an LO who has a short frenulum? DD (born Friday!!) does and I'm just wondering what the options are. My day nurse's son had it. She didn't treat it and he needed over 10 years of speech therapy. My BIL had it and it was "snipped" when he was an infant. Both were bottle-fed. DD has my nipples torn up! I am missing chunks of skin and I wince so badly when she latches on that DH said I look like I'm in more pain than I was during labor! (IDK about that! haha)

Any experience/advice/input you have would be appreciated!

And the remark that got my eyebrows up into my hairline:

I told the night nurse that I will do whatever is best for DD but I hope she doesn't need a surgical procedure because it seems like some doctors are rough on babies and really skimp on pain managemt.

Her response: "The upside is that she won't remember it!" Indifferent

How is that a consolation? And for whom?!? Yikes.

danienross · July 2012

It tends to run in families. My mother, sister, myself, and my nephew all had it. They said DD was borderline.

My sister's was clipped at age 5. They didn't give her anything for pain. Since my sister is older mom knew I might have one so mine was checked and clipped as an infant (around 4mos). My nephew is only 7wks and his has already been clipped.

Mrs. TLC · July 2012

i would absolutely, without a doubt, have it clipped if you want to breastfeed.

my son flat out would not latch. the minute after it was clipped he latched right on. Nursing still hurt for a good 2 months because he also had a very short tongue, so it took time for it to get to a point where he could easily draw out milk. But he's almost 20mo now and still nursing strong!

Mrs. TLC · July 2012

oh, and it wasnt surgical. It was literally a snip with a pair of scissors. No numbing or pain control needed - as soon as it was snipped i put him right on my breast and he nursed immediately. no tears.

monksmama · July 2012

Both of my boys were tongue tied.

J's was pretty bad, almost to the edge of his tongue and we used a nipple shield until he could latch well on his own. (3 months, maybe?)

S was also TT, but he didn't need a shield. My nipples were sore until we got the hang of it.

We did not have either son 'clipped'. Honestly, I just really didn't like the idea unless it was 100% neccesary. For my two, it wasn't. Both nursed happily until 2.5 - 3 and neither has any speech issues.

CalinsBride · July 2012

Yeah, her not remembering it has nothing to do with anything. You're not concerned about her memory of the event, you're concerned about the event itself. I'll never understand people who use that argument.

Anyhoo, I think you should probably treat it. My knowledge of the subject is very limited, but I've *heard* that BFing heals it very nicely. And I feel you on the sore nipples. DD had latch problems at and I used to cry when BFing her. I was all blistered and bruised--it was not pleasant.

I dealt with the pain with a combination of:

Dr. Jack Newman's All-Purpose Nipple Ointment (our midwife called in a prescription for me)

Soaking in homemade saline solution of water and salt (I followed a recipe I found on kellymom and it didn't burn; it had the same make-up as tears).

Blow-drying my nipples after feeding (this actually helped a lot).

So, first I BFed, then used the saline solution, then blow-dry, then the ointment.

mwitter80 · July 2012

My son was very tongue tied. It actually pulled his tongue so that it looked split, like a snakes. It effected his swallowing, even from a bottle and was rapidly losing weight. We had him snipped at 11 days pp and after a 1 and a half pound weight loss. The doctor and a nurse practitioner did it in an exam room. They didn't give him anything except a little sugar water. They snipped it with a pair of surgical scissors. I sat in the corner crying a little because I was so worried for him. My husband watched.

After the snip, my son cried, but not whaled. He cries louder from wet diapers. After they snipped him, they asked me to feed him right away. The suctioning helps stop the bleeding faster than anything else. It immediately felt different and I watched his mouth move differently than it did before. It still hurt a little, because of the damage that was already there, but that only lasted a short while. The sooner you do it the better. If you wait to long they may not be able to change the way they nurse.

He did not cry anymore or after either. I think it bothered me, more than it bothered him. Good luck with your decision.

tokenhoser · July 2012

Get it clipped.

Babies typically cry at being held down and having their mouth pried open, but don't seem to react with pain at the actual snip. You can nurse directly after. It's such a minor procedure with huge breastfeeding payoff (plus speech later).

I wouldn't suffer through. There is no reason to. Don't be a martyr.

TiffanyBerry · July 2012

I would ABSOLUTELY clip her frenulum. It is NOT a full surgery by any means, and infants really do seem to be over it right away, maybe a bit of ibuprofen or acetaminophen for a day or two. It makes a WORLD of difference in nursing and keeping up nursing with a tongue tie may not even work out (she can't effectively suck and your supply may well not keep up with her needs over the months) not to mention the risk of infection to you.

It's a very simple and straight forward procedure, even if not pleasant.

rboisvert · July 2012

I just wanted to comment about the link between tounge tie and speech needs. ASHA (american speech and hearing association) has written a possition statement on the corrilation and their position is that there is no evidence that tounge tie affects speech and that those who have both speech needs and tounge tie would have needed speech therapy even without the tie. My daughter has a tounge tie and we chose not to clip. She is able to latch and nurse well. I made my choice not to clip based on the ASHA research that it will not increase her likelyhood of needing speech therapy. I am a special ed teacher and have lots of speech friends. No one I talked to thought we should clip based on potential speech concerns.

Que*Syrah · July 2012

DS's was clipped at 2 months. They gave him a local anesthetic and the whole procedure was NBD at all. It solved our latching issues and he has been right on track as far as speech goes.

I say the younger the better.

After reading other responses, maybe they didn't use an anesthetic...maybe they just gave him motrin beforehand?? I don't know, it was 2.5 years ago, LOL. All I know is that he never seemed traumatized.

AmyC925 · July 2012

Lurking...

IMO definitely clip. I had a tongue tie and didn't have it clipped until I was 7. Until that happened, I had a slight lisp and could barely stick my tongue out. Having it clipped now DOES give the baby the chance not to remember that. Although it may be hard for you, if it is necessary in the future it will be hard for you then as well. I remember having it done and the pain that accompanied it.
Just a thought.

3003girl · July 2012

I just want to say that I feel your pain. I had cracked and bloody nipples for weeks. I later found out LO has a tight frenulum on her top lip, not her tongue. Breast feeding was literally not comfortable for me until LO was about six weeks old and she grew into her latch. If I would have known there was something I could do I probably would have done it. Painful nipples suck.

TaylersMommy · July 2012

I am a post partum nurse and as such, assist with this procedure every single shift. We, as humans do not have a whole lot of nerve endings in our frenulums, the babies cry more from me having to (gently) hold their little heads in place and sometimes having to hold their tongues up (depending on the Dr). It is much more traumatizing for you, trust me! Your LO will most likely happily suckle away at your breast directly after the clipping. The blood loss is at most, a tiny little drop. It will be immensely worth it, as your nipples will be given the chance to heal once she learns how to move her "new" tongue correctly. I feel horrible that your nipples are in such a rough state. Please consider the procedure as a preferable decision for the sake of your nursing relationship!

MikesMom12345 · July 2012

Get it clipped! We waited until 7 weeks due to mis-diagnosis, and I was in absolute he11 during that time due to sore, bloody, cracked nipples and along with the stress of a newborn losing weight that I honestly did not even enjoy the first few weeks of LO's life. If it is tongue tie, and you are in pain, and want to continue to breastfeed, I would say do it ASAP. I don't know about the pain level, but if you wait too long they like to put the baby under general anesthesia. LO had to have general anesthesia at 7 weeks because they said the nerve endings were more developed than in a newborn and therefore they use anesthesia. I would recommend getting it done before that point because general anesthesia comes with risks, as well as no milk for LO 6 hours prior to surgery.

jcsumm0 · July 2012

Just wanted to add a fun fact: I asked my LC what they used to do about tongue ties "back in the day." My baby didn't have one but I know lots that did and I was curious. She said midwives kept one long, sharp finger nail they used to cut umbilical cords and if they saw a tongue tie they would cut it right away too. In other societies nursing women would all nurse/pass around a baby with a tongue tie so that no one's nipples got too sore! I thought that was interesting.

Kristinmo · July 2012

Get it clipped.

My sister had hers clipped as an infant but they didn't get enough so she had to have it re-done as an adult (it was causing tooth decay because she couldn't use it properly while chewing). She was petrified going in but said it really didn't hurt.

ToastieSimons · July 2012

The reason they skimp on pain management is because pain receptors in a babies brain are not completely developed. They do not feel pain the way we do. In fact, their dopamine receptors are so much stronger than ours are, that the sweet-ease (sugar water packets) can create a much stronger analgesic than tylenol or other pain medication for minor procedures (like circumcision, frenulum snipping, etc).

DS2 had hernia surgery at 3 weeks old and he only had a spinal block for the first 8 hours post surgery. After that he had no pain medication.

Personally, it's going to much more difficult for her to nurse with a tongue tie and it's such a short procedure that I would do it. You'll enjoy her and nursing more which will make her a much happier baby in the end.

And it's true, she won't remember it. I chose not to have pain medication during labor and it hurt. And I'll remember it, but that wouldn't stop me from having more children.

Pain medication can have much more side effects and negative impact on baby's bodies than a few minutes of pain will. Ibuprofen can do liver damage and damage the delicate lining of a newborns stomach which is only designed to handle breastmilk/formula. Acetaminophen while considered safe in a neonate can still have long term damage when overused. And if you want her sedated, remember that each time you have a sedative it creates a tolerance in the body. Which means, that the next time they need sedation it will need to be a higher dose.

DS1 has been sedated many times and had multiple painful procedures. And watching him be sedated/come out of sedation is MUCH worse than watching him scream for a few minutes, comforting him and having him be back to himself in minutes.

GoldenPeaches · July 2012

DS was tongue tied. His latch was awful, he'd stay on the boob forever, couldn't effectively suck, would spit up a lot etc. Getting it clipped was absolutely the best decision. His latch got worse for 2-3 days and then got tons better. I have a tongue tie and now have a speech problem for life. I wouldn't wish that on anybody! I am very pro tongue clipping, even for bottle fed infants.

No, they do not numb it but it would be much more risky to use local anesthetic. In babies, there are very few nerve endings in the frenulum anyway.

Be sure they check for lip tie as well. They often go hand in hand. DS had an upper lip tie. That correction was more involved as it needed cauterization after the ENT clipped it.

Congrats!!!

SandiaPinaMama · July 2012

Congrats!

Of course, all the PPs are right, get it clipped. I just wanted to chip in that I really feel that a nursing shield is your friend. Personally, I would apply just a bit of coconut oil to my nipple, and then put on the shield. Coconut oil is also your friend. GL!

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