July 2015 Moms

LIp tie???

FTM here LO is 7weeks 4 days. Have been having to feed every 1.5 hours or more frequently. Has a shallow latch and doesn't transfer much milk. We've seen a LC. I'm wondering for those of you have dealt with it, does this look like lip tie?

Re: LIp tie???

  • Yes, definitely a lip tie.
  • Oh wow, after seeing that pic and checking our little girl, she has the same thing. Is this common?
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  • The function of the upper lip is what's important. If it doesn't touch his nose, that's a problem. Facebook has a tongue tie support group that has tons of amazing info on it. We just got my sons tongue and lip tie revised.
  • @hankhunter not sure if it's common. I haven't done too much research on it yet. I Was seeing some other people post about it and symptoms of it. It sounded a lot like the BF problems we've been having so I looked up pictures and looked at his lip. Seems like it might be the cause of some of our problems. I'm reading that 90% of the time they have this then they have tongue tie. Seems that both can cause some breastfeeding problems.
  • @kelly422 I know they clip it to fix it. Can you tell me more about it? How is the recovery?
  • Hmmmm we haven't had any breastfeeding issues, but she is quite gassy at times... and can be kinda squeaky when we offer the pumped bottle at night :( I'll ask out lactation consultant tomorrow about more info too, and post!
  • We had it lasered by a pediatric dentist last Tuesday. The worst days were yesterday and the day before. You have to do stretches 5-6 times a day to prevent reattachment and that part is pretty painful and awful for him. But he hasn't had any Tylenol since last night so day hopefully we have rounded the corner! It's not fun, I'm not gonna lie :(
  • kelly422 said:

    We had it lasered by a pediatric dentist last Tuesday. The worst days were yesterday and the day before. You have to do stretches 5-6 times a day to prevent reattachment and that part is pretty painful and awful for him. But he hasn't had any Tylenol since last night so day hopefully we have rounded the corner! It's not fun, I'm not gonna lie :(

    Gosh that's nerve wracking, I hope your little one is feeing better! Is that the main treatment for lip tie?
  • I have the same concern about my baby. Can anyone tell me if they think this is a lip tie?
  • We had my daughters clipped instead of lasered, it took 20 seconds and she cried for that long after and that was it. Nothing else.
  • @gokahne9 I would say yes it does look like a lip tie.
  • @keniialise did the tongue get done, as well?
  • kelly422 said:

    @keniialise did the tongue get done, as well?

    This.
  • @gokahne9 I'm obviously no expert since I'm asking the same thing, but I'd say yes it looks like lip tie.
  • @kelly422 @randa923 no, both of my littles who had lip ties were fortunate enough not to have their tongues tied as well.
  • I've been told over 90% lip ties had at least a posterior tongue tie, as well. Reason being it's something that happens in utero with midline development.
  • kelly422 said:

    I've been told over 90% lip ties had at least a posterior tongue tie, as well. Reason being it's something that happens in utero with midline development.

    I've read the 90% thing too. I saw the lactation consultant today. She said definitely lip tie, but not sure about the tongue tie. She recommended we get a referral to a pediatric ENT from out pediatrician. We see him on September 11. Until then he's breastfeeding and getting supplemental feedings as needed. He doesn't get enough when he breastfeeds due to a really shallow latch (I'm hoping can be fixed). So he eats very frequently. So for now we'll just keep him happy
  • I talked to a lactation consultant and dentist today, both said that if our little girl isn't having a hard time latching (which she isn't) it wasn't something to worry about right now, as the gum line will recede as teeth come in and at that point, it would be something to assess, our dentist said it would be a good 8 months before surgery or anything would need to be considered
  • @hankhunter get a second opinion and join the Facebook group for tongue tie support!
  • kelly422 said:

    @hankhunter get a second opinion and join the Facebook group for tongue tie support!

    Yep we still need to talk with our ped at our 8 week follow up appt., but was just posting information from what I got today
  • @hankhunter As a Pedi myself, I admittedly didn't know much about lip and posterior tongue tied until going through this recently, so don't be surprised if your pedi doesn't either! I am making it a point to educate my fellow pedi doctor friends though! :)
  • kelly422 said:

    @hankhunter As a Pedi myself, I admittedly didn't know much about lip and posterior tongue tied until going through this recently, so don't be surprised if your pedi doesn't either! I am making it a point to educate my fellow pedi doctor friends though! :)

    I'm pretty sure this is why the lactation consultant said to get a referral to a pediatric ENT. From what I understand many pediatricians don't know much about lip and tongue tie. Plus from my research there are different types of tongue tie that are pretty difficult to spot if you haven't been trained to do so.
  • If you have an ent experienced in this, yes...however I spoke with 3 of them directly. 1 said he could fix the lip, anther said yes under general anesthesia, and a third had no idea what I was talking about so it depends. We went to a pediatric dentist. There is a list of preferred providers across the country that have experience in this. On the Colorado list where I live, they all were dentists. Not one ent.
  • All such helpful responses :) thank you guys so much!
  • kelly422 said:

    If you have an ent experienced in this, yes...however I spoke with 3 of them directly. 1 said he could fix the lip, anther said yes under general anesthesia, and a third had no idea what I was talking about so it depends. We went to a pediatric dentist. There is a list of preferred providers across the country that have experience in this. On the Colorado list where I live, they all were dentists. Not one ent.

    Really? Well I'll talk to the doctor at our next appointment and if we have no luck with the ENT we'll see a pediatric dentist. Thanks
  • eclohoecloho member
    edited September 2015
    Well although this is not a concern I have with my LO, my lactation consultant just talked about this yesterday During the weekly support group that I attend… She told us that the concept of a lip tie is really mostly bogus!!! A tongue tie can be a legitimate issue. She said it does not matter AT ALL what position the upper lip is in; it can be out, it can be folded in, what really matters is that the bottom lip flanges outward & down. As far as the tongue tie, which can be an issue, she said she would only have an ear, nose and throat specialist address such a problem. She absolutely recommended avoiding pediatric dentists or pediatricians to do these procedures. She even went as far as to say that often pediatricians & pediatric dentists will tell you there is a lip tie issue that needs to be treated just as a way to charge you more money. She also noted that using a laser often caused a lot of other problems and cutting a tongue tie it was a better method
  • I'd like to know where she is getting her data from and why she is right and why all these doctors are wrong.
  • Def a lip tie, had my daughters fixed at 1 week old, they said it would cause speech problems and it was not nearly as tied as this picture.
  • @kelly422 ...just sharing what I heard
  • I highly doubt any doctor does an unnecessary procedure just for money. It kind of bothers me that she would say that. Though I'm not positive it needs to be fixed. I haven't talked to anyone except my lactation consultant who said to see the ENT. From what I read though the cut is better than the laser.
  • ecloho said:

    @kelly422 ...just sharing what I heard

    @ecloho oh I know you were just sharing! I'm just a little appalled that's the message being spread by an LC...
  • When you get conflicting information, how do you decide which opinion is more accurate over the other?

    I also had my ped verify that my son does in fact have an upper lip tie today. He said that the biggest issue is that DS will likely have a gap in his front teeth. He didn't detect a tongue tie and said that most feeding and speech issues come from tongue ties not lip ties. He also suggested waiting until teeth come in to see what happens.
  • gokahne9 said:
    When you get conflicting information, how do you decide which opinion is more accurate over the other? I also had my ped verify that my son does in fact have an upper lip tie today. He said that the biggest issue is that DS will likely have a gap in his front teeth. He didn't detect a tongue tie and said that most feeding and speech issues come from tongue ties not lip ties. He also suggested waiting until teeth come in to see what happens.

    So with my other child who is lie tied and (uncut) we never did figure out he was lip tied until I had already thrown in the towel on breast feeding because he couldn't latch. When I finally did figure out he was lip tied and took him to our peds doctor, the brought up the fact that my son had suffered with colic for so long and it could have been because even though we switched to a bottle his latch was still allowing too much air to enter when he was eating. Other than that, and his giant gap in his teeth :( (except it's not always noticeable because his lip still covers his teeth) his speech has been perfect though, and that was a huge concern. They tell me they won't touch his lip tie now until his baby teeth fall out, and once his adult teeth come in he will need braces.
  • jlamb252019jlamb252019 member
    edited September 2015
    My pedi told me pretty much the same thing; lots of dentists will do it, but it's rarely necessary. He said there is No need to do anything unless it is interfering significantly with breastfeeding. I also asked my sister in law who is a speech and language pathologist about the potential for language issues from a lip tie and she said she only knew of tongue ties causing issues and even then only rarely.
  • Hi, coming from June.. Just had my 11 week olds lip tie cut yesterday by a ENT. she cried because she didn't want to be held and was tired. Didn't even flinch when he injected a little bit of lidocaine. Cried afterwards I think because she didn't like the taste of blood but was fine once I started feeding her. Haven't noticed any thing different than usual today except not wanting to nap but that's been going on lately. I was having pain while nursing and it definitely is better already.
  • I'm learning so much from everyone's responses, hope they continue!
  • I'd rather have a lip tie fixed now then wonder if it's going to cause him to have (very expensive) braces later in life. It appears to be a pretty simple and very quick procedure. And with the potential for so many problems later, I just don't understand why any doctor would want to wait? In my case though we are having problems with breastfeeding so even more reason to get it fixed early.
  • I personally had a lip tie and it was not corrected as a baby. Once my teeth came in I had a huge gap and had to get braces. When it was almost time for the braces to come off, they had to laser my lip tie because they said it was low enough it would make the gap come back. I agree with pp, it is better to have it done early and avoid any issues rather than wait. Especially in my case where it had to be done anyway.
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