New born baby is 'Tongue-tied'

LordSutch

My Wife's sister has just had her 1st baby in Hollis St, and apparently the new born has a condition know as Tongue-Tie, this means the tougue is not as free as it should be, the stringy bit that attaches to the bottom of the tongue is too short! her babies condition is thankfully a mild form.

Just wondering if anybody else has come across this condidion, and is surgery a sensible option? the baby is feeding ok, but we understand that in the years to come a speech impediment might appear. Is it possible that the small 'snip' to loosen the tongue might do more harm than good?

Curious.

January

I think that unless it is severe then they don't routinely snip the tongue tie anymore... as in, if there are no feeding problems then they leave it and speech therapy can help any speech impediment that comes to light later on...

A_Border_Bandit

Just shy of 22 years ago yours truly was born tongue tied. I didn't know this until I asked mammy why could I not stick my tongue out that far (not even half way to my nose).

They just snipped under my tongue and had to do so as my teeth would have grown up through it! :eek:

ladypip

Hi

My son was born tongue tied but it wasn't picked up until he was three months old and laughed while my sister was holding him close to her face and she seen it. We had awful trouble with breast feeding and he would cry whenever i held hm which i never understood but when i brought him to my gp he said that breast feeding was hurting him and the smell of the milk from me would scare him. He was put on a waiting list to have it corrected with surgery and we were left waiting a year and a half he had it done privately when he was nearly two because he was on the list so long and it was hugely traumatic for him as he had to be put to sleep and woke up very suddenly.

That was my cautionary tale. But there are differences between my son and your Neice/nephew. Firstly yours was picked up when it should have been at birth. Secondly at the stage my son was seen by the Consultant he was too old to simply have it sniped in day surgery without having to be put asleep. But a very young baby can have it sniped in a day surgery situation. And thirdly my sons was majorly tied down his tongue was literally stuck down to the bottom of his mouth.

I was given may different opinions about if he would have a speech problem if he'd never had it sniped and im still not sure which was right or wrong.

Good luck hope this helped

LordSutch

Many thanks for your replies so far, there's a lot of good advice there.

We will pass on your thoughts/experiences to my sister in law.

Many Thanks.

Bigcheeze

LordSutch wrote: »

Many thanks for your replies so far, there's a lot of good advice there.

We will pass on your thoughts/experiences to my sister in law.

Many Thanks.

If it's a mild case, there's a good chance it will self-rectify. They will probably schedule an appointment with a paediatrician to check it after 6 months.

LegacyUser

I would advise you to look at getting this corrected as soon as possible.
I knew a little boy who had this problem and it was noticed when he started trying to talk.
His mother could understand him but other people found it hard.
This little boy was bad tempered also.
Within 3 months of the operation and some s therapy he became a happier child.

ocy

my son now 4.5 month had mild tongue tie at birth.
One of the lactation consultants give up the name of GP who snips the tongue tie. We ended up not getting it done.

Over the past month it seems to have naturally released and he can now stick his tongue out

Cat Melodeon

My boy had a tongue tie at birth (his dad has one too). He had no problems breastfeeding so the PHN and doctor advised us to leave it alone and to keep an eye on his speech development as he gets older. He's 21 months now and his speech is coming on fine - we won't know for sure for a couple of years yet but his dad has no speech problems so I'm not too concerned. Every kid is different though.

The other thing that can be affected in tongue-tied kids more than speech development is oral hygiene as sometimes they aren't as efficient at cleaning around their mouth after eating so keep an eye on that when the time comes and instill a good brushing habit early on. My PHN/doctor never informed about that, it was a dentist friend who told me about it.

LordSutch

Going by what I've read so far the obvious choice is to go for the snip option, (then you are covered for the future development of the childs speech)! I haven't heard of any contra-indications involving the surgical procedure, so maybe the snip in the 1st few weeks, is the safe option?

LordSutch

Going by what I've read so far the obvious choice is to go for the snip option, (then you are covered for the future development of the childs speech)! I haven't heard of any contra-indications involving the surgical procedure, so maybe the snip in the 1st few weeks, is the safe option?

Cat Melodeon

I certainly wouldn't decide on whether or not to put my child through a surgical procedure based on what I've read on here. Tongue-ties can be severe and cause problems, or they can be mild and unimportant. Get your child assessed by a professional. The procedure can be unpleasant, painful and carries a risk of infection (the mouth is full of bacteria). That is an acceptable risk to take if the tongue tie is affecting feeding, but why put your baby through that if s/he is not having any problems or if a doctor concludes that complications are unlikely? It can just as easily be done 4 years from now if a problem does arise.

LordSutch

Sound advice, thanks very much, its a bit worrying alright, & to be honest they are getting professional advice, but these posts are invaluable.

Many Thanks.

edellc

my baba was born in hollis st too and the nurse told me he was slightly tongue tied too he hasnt started to talk yet just makes sounds
tbh im not that bothered yet as he had no problem breast feeding or bottle feeding and as for eating you cant leave anything down as its devoured
they say if its slightly then the child can grow out of it so fingers crossed he does

msdemena

When I took my daughter (now 18) to her 5 week check up the doctor said she was tongue tied and advised that it would be best to snip it, I then went and sought advice off my GP because it sounded a bit barbaric to me and he was not in favour of it either. When my daughter started talking thankfully there were no problems, It's necessary in some cases but leaving it worked ok for my girl.

Mary28

Both my sons have tongue tie and it has resolved itself to some extent in both. It naturally stretches & tears in many cases, didnt' really cause any pain.
They recommend you don't get it snipped these days and in many cases docs won't do it. We went to a private consultant and paid 120 euros to be told we shouldn't get it done but if we wanted it done it would mean an anasthetic in surgery which turned us off. I've since heard of plenty who's doctor did it for them with no ill effects.
My husband & his dad have tongue tie. Didn't effect speech with either but both got them snipped as it caused some pain in late teens when stretching/ripping.
I think it's no harm getting it done but Iwouldn't worry about it if feeding is going ok.

Clearlier

My now 9 month old had a partial tongue tie which was spotted by a lactation consultant. We had it snipped as it was causing latching difficulties. It helped that he was our second so my wife knew that it wasn't a technique problem. He was very young when they did it so no anaesthesia, it was over and done with and him back on the breast within 2 minutes.