Tongue tie question

Annie0327 · July 2014

Ok, so my baby is tongue tied. He nurses fine since he was born so the Doctors say it doesn't need to be cut and that hardly anyone cuts them anymore as long as they nurse fine. He still nursing fine. I wasn't worried until I met an adult co-worker of my husband who is still tongue tied. He says some speech is difficult. It definitely looks cumbersome when he showed it to us. Now my husband and I are thinking we should have it cut. When we asked our pedi, she says, again, hardly anyone gets them cut anymore. My question is, what is the long term harm. Will he be tongue tied forever? He can barely stick his tongue out, but I'm not sure if an 8 week old can actually stick their tongues out. It goes out to his bottom lip. Getting it cut now requires anesthesia, which is a risk in itself, but the procedure is so quick, he wouldn't be under for very long. Anyone else having this internal debate? Thoughts?

mrsbtobe20122 · July 2014

Idk why they say it requires anesthesia. It doesn't. There are no nerve endings and takes seconds for the procedure to be done. Sounds to me like they just don't want to do it since he eats fine.

Fwiw I am a tongue tied adult and don't have trouble speaking. I, however, can't do any cool tongue tricks or speak Spanish very well. c'est la vie

ETA: our son was tongue tied and not eating well at all. We had it clipped at day 4 of life. He was starving, and I couldn't EP long term.

jenb_99 · July 2014

I had my tongue clipped at 18 and my lower lip clipped at 21. Neither was painful for me as an adult and they're even easier for babies. I wouldn't hesitate to have it done to one of my kids. A minute of mild discomfort is a small price to pay for easy feeding as an infant and easier speech later in life.

And no, you don't grow out of a tie.

Annie0327 · July 2014

My pedi has to refer me to a big hospital to have it done, which makes me worried that its a big deal.

Sam0905 · July 2014

We had our baby's lip and tongue tie clipped at 6.5 wks. It was done by a dentist who specializes in he procedure. They used a topical numbing agent and a laser, no anesthesia. Do you have anywhere else it could be done? It seems odd to me that anesthesia would be needed, even at 8 weeks. Maybe you could get a second opinion. We decided to get it done bc he was having troubles nursing, but I was worried about the other future implications of a tongue tie as well.

jenb_99 · July 2014

Annie0327 said:
My pedi has to refer me to a big hospital to have it done, which makes me worried that its a big deal.

It's not. At all. Seriously. I will never understand why doctors make such a big deal out of it. It doesn't even require stitches or medication beyond a topical numbing ointment. A bowl of Cap'n Crunch hurts my mouth far worse than either of those procedures did.

RachelCA29 · July 2014

We had our son'es clipped at 4 weeks. A pediatric dentist did it, both his tongue tie and lip tie. They used a numbing agent and cut the tongue tie and lasered the lip tie.

We were having BFing issues, but my over active letdown was more of a problem than his latch. What made us make the decision is we mentioned it to my in-laws and then mentioned my husband has a tongue tie, that didn't get clipped. My husband had speech issues as a young child and had to go through speech therapy, which can be one of the effects of a tongue tie. We thought since it is not an invasive procedure and obviously there can be issues down the road, we should get it done.

usernewname · July 2014

jenb_99 said:

Annie0327 said:
My pedi has to refer me to a big hospital to have it done, which makes me worried that its a big deal.
It's not. At all. Seriously. I will never understand why doctors make such a big deal out of it. It doesn't even require stitches or medication beyond a topical numbing ointment. A bowl of Cap'n Crunch hurts my mouth far worse than either of those procedures did.

I love capt crunch! It's a bitch to the roof of the mouth.

giggler25 · July 2014

@jenb_99‌ -- Can I ask why you got your ties fixed in early adulthood? Also do you know how severe your ties were? I'm in a similar situation to OP as ymy LO has a class 3 upper lip/tongue tie but nurses fine and MH and I can't figure out whether to get it clipped.

@Annie0327‌ -- I agree with PPs that even at 8 weeks it shouldn't require anesthesia. Have you tried contacting any ENTs in your area for a second opinion? That's who my LC referred us to if we wanted to get it done. There are also dentists who do it with laser.

jenb_99 · July 2014

@giggler25‌ I got my tongue fixed for major orthodontic issues and my lip fixed because it was pulling my gumline down. It was so severe I needed a gingival graft. I breastfed fine as a baby so it went undiagnosed (or maybe just ignored?) but I did have a pretty bad lisp as a child. Had I gotten both fixed as an infant, my parents would've saved about $15k in dental and orthodontic costs.

Annie0327 · July 2014

OMG, that's it, he's getting it done.

pandadair · July 2014

Definitely seek out a knowledgeable pediatric ENT. Regular pedis aren't particularly trained in that area.

whitehousem · July 2014

We had both the twins done at maybe two weeks by an ENT. It took two seconds. They did not even use a numbing agent and one of the boys didn't even cry. I'm glad we did it bc now we don't have to worry about potential future issues. Now we are worrying that DD may have one that has not been diagnosed, she's two. It did not solve our BFing problems but I'm still glad we did it. They only had minor ties.

Bootsie327 · July 2014

My DS had both a tongue and lip tie. The procedure for both was done with a laser and local anesthetic (like, orajel even and not a shot...and I think that was just on the lip bc the tongue frenulum has no nerve endings), and all took maximum like 7 mins. Better to take care of it now so you don't have to deal with potential speech problems. Also, think of all the things people need full use of their tongue for...ice cream cones, kissing...this will all be easier later in life if you get the procedure. I agree that you should get it evaluated by an ENT or pediatric dentist to see the degree of the tie, and to see if they recommend fixing it. My son's lip tie was severe, and the tongue tie was moderate so we fixed both.

rona118 · July 2014

A friends little girls was tongue tied and eventualy got hers cut because she was having choking issues. They noticed DD#2 has on the top but no one seems worried about.

H&H2014 · July 2014

Annie0327 said:
My pedi has to refer me to a big hospital to have it done, which makes me worried that its a big deal.

We got ours done at UCSF which made it sound like a big deal to me too but it wasn't. I would get a second opinion on the anesthesia thing. I haven't heard of any tongue ties requiring that.

gypsymystic · July 2014

My DS1 is tounge tied (DS2 as well, though he nurses fine.) We never got it cut and he does show some problems in the speech department, he has improved a lot in the last year or two working with him at home and at school, but he had a slight lisp for awhile.

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