short frenulum and BF'ing

megs042107 · December 2008

hi ladies! ?i have a few minutes to spare as we're getting adjusted to life with our son Colin. ?he was born with a short frenulum which has presented major challenges with BF'ing. ?we have our first well visit tomorrow and we'll be discussing it. ?but i just wanted to see if anyone here has dealt with the same and considered clipping it....??

Valentine99 · December 2008

Congrats Megs! When was he born? So sorry you have to go through this. Hugs

MrsKatieH · December 2008

Hey Megs....congrats to you and your family!? Please post a pic of Colin.? I am no help here except I found an article by Dr Sears if you want the link let me know.? ?My brother was tongue-tied as they call it, had it clipped when he was 7.? Dr Sears suggests if you have problems bf'ing to have it clipped. Brendan is tongue tied also but I pumped so I never had this issue.?

KittenGator · December 2008

I always forget that there is a frenulum in your mouth, lol

LucyPevensie · December 2008

WE HAD OUR SON'S CLIPPED WHEN HE WAS 4 DAYS OLD BY AN EAR NOSE AND THROAT SPECIALIST - oh shiit sorry typing 1 handed didnt see caps on. anyway in our case it unfortunately did not help - my boobs got very damaged and infected and our bf'ing is pretty much over. but for some - getting fren clipped can be very helpful. good luck!!

BridetobeEm · December 2008

Yep, we had the same problem. The lactation consultant I met with said we could clip it, but it wasn't the shortest she's ever seen. The pedi said it's not a painful procedure at all, but I decided to leave it and eventually BFing did get easier. GL w/your decision!

Kiss&Makeup · December 2008

My DS was tounge-tied (is that the same thing?) we had it clipped with absolutely no problems. I am so glad we did it early.

Kiss&Makeup · December 2008

Sorry, should have read the other replies first. Yes, we had it clipped, it took literally seconds, and he was fine afterwards.

A dentist in our office refered me to an ENT doc who did the procedure. They suggested doing it early to avoid any other feeding, and later on speaking issues (lisp, etc.)

LucyPevensie · December 2008

i'm glad we did it too even though it didnt help with bf'ing - it can cause speech issues later - our son's fren was all the way to the tip of his tongue so pretty significant.

choirgirl · December 2008

DS had one, and he lost over 10% of his birth weight in 2 days. The LC figured it out on day 3 (didn't before because he had an otherwise perfect latch and apparently I'm, um, built well). She said it was a classic short frenulum, worth clipping right away An old-school pediatrician was on call that day and came over and did it ASAP, and BFing got immediately better and today at his 2 week appt he was back to over his birth weight.

Maybe 2 drops of blood and no tears. Over in 5 minutes or less. In contrast, our cleaning lady was telling me that her grandson had one and was advised to not clip it. Now he's 7 and in speech therapy.

So at this point, we're glad we did it.

EmilyOTR1 · December 2008

Get it clipped. Our son had his clipped and it helped tremendously with BFing. It's not painful at all for them, and it takes just a second.

lawry13 · December 2008

DD was tongue tied. Was ready to give up BFing until the lactation consultant noticed it and suggested it was the reason for my problems (pain, etc). Got a referral to a Head & Neck surgeon. Quick appointment to get it clipped. She didn't cry at all and made a world of difference for BFing. I would do it again!

Sueball1 · December 2008

Hey megs!

We just dealt with the EXACT same thing. I got 3 separate diagnoses - the final one from my pedi today, and decided to get it snipped. It took all of two seconds and DS didn't even cry.

However - all these LCs told me it would be a "magic" fix, that Leo would start BFing right away like a champ... but no such luck. I have been EPing for the past week since we had such a rough first week of BFing and he just couldn't latch... so I have a feeling he just prefers the ease of the bottle. I'm not hoping for much with the BFing at this point. But at least I won't worry about my son having speech issues or not being able to eat an ice cream cone...:)

If you want more info feel free to page me - I'm usually on Parenting After Loss or SAL...:)

tobeMrsSzabo · December 2008

:-( DD has a really short frenulum as well and we were told by a couple pediatricians in our practice that it was not necessary to have it clipped even though it goes all the way to the end of her tongue. a LC we went to actually asked if she could take a pic of my daughter crying bc she had the classic heart shaped tongue when she cried. BFing was really hard for us in the beginning but it did get better. i keep asking at her pedi checkups about it and they keep telling me it isn't a big deal, one even said his son had one similar and he had no speech problems at all. i am still worried though and sometimes i wish i would have pressed the issue further, especially after seeing all of these positive responses about it.

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