Babies/Children with Tongue Tie

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Babies/Children with Tongue Tie
« on: June 17, 2008, 09:27:59 PM » by pljammie

I realized the other day that my 6 year old son has tongue tie. When he was born he had the sweetest heart shaped tongue, which our pediatrician said was not anything to be concerned about. He never said it was tongue tie, but looking at his tongue the other day a friend mentioned it. He is now having some dental issues. His baby teeth came in very crooked and now the new teeth are coming in without the baby teeth falling out. Also he is a very messy eater. However, he has no speech issues. I am wondering if others have experience with a child with tongue tie and if it is worth it to look into having it fixed at this age. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Jammie

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Re: Babies/Children with Tongue Tie
« Reply #1 on: June 17, 2008, 09:49:54 PM » by healthybratt

Quote

if it is worth it to look into having it fixed at this age

I have a friend who had it done as an adult (about age 30). I've sent an email to get a first hand account and I'll post it as soon as I hear back. Grin

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Re: Babies/Children with Tongue Tie
« Reply #2 on: June 17, 2008, 10:08:39 PM » by lewisquiverfull

I have been wondering the same thing for my son. He is 3 and has a severe speech delay. His tongue is very short, can barely stick it out of his mouth.
I asked the speech therapist about it (she will start with him in August) and she said as long as he can raise it to the top of his mouth he is ok on speech. Huh

I am still wondering if this is his speech problem.

Embarrassed

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Re: Babies/Children with Tongue Tie
« Reply #3 on: June 17, 2008, 10:53:50 PM » by healthybratt

My friend answered my email.

Quote from: inquiry

Hey, didn't you say you got your tongue cut? There's a lady on the forum that has a kid that has it and is wondering if there are some benefits to having the surgery later than infancy.

Did you have any noticeable differences in eating, drinking, speech, comfort, sleep, etc after it healed?

Quote from: response

No, I didn't notice anything really any different. It is easier to brush the teeth though cause I can actually move it out of the way where before I couldn't. I would tell her to get it done now so the kid can brush the inside surfaces of the teeth and the tongue won't be in the way... Just my thoughts.

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Re: Babies/Children with Tongue Tie
« Reply #4 on: June 18, 2008, 12:48:49 AM » by marksgirl

One of my daughters was tongue-tied, but the midwife noticed it at the one-week checkup. She just broke the underneath part loose, I think with her finger, and I don't remember baby being overly upset about it. We'd been having some difficulties with nursing. Apparently she wasn't able to latch on correctly, so this was probably the cause of my first (and only--so far!) case of mastitis. I guess there must be differing degrees of tongue-tied-ness, or people wouldn't still have this problem into child- or adulthood. I learned something new today! Wink

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Re: Babies/Children with Tongue Tie
« Reply #5 on: June 18, 2008, 03:48:11 AM » by cjanderin

My second son was tongue-tied. A midwife at the hospital noticed it but both my own midwife and my doctor didn't think it was a problem. I found out though that I was tongue-tied and my mother got it cut at a few weeks old so when my son was 6 weeks and I'd dilly-dallied about doing something about it, I finally rung a doctor who'd been recommended (as the tongue-tie doctor Cheesy

because he does so many of them - most doctors in my area don't anymore) and we went in - it was a 2 second snip and I breastfed him immediately afterwards. He didn't cry for more than about 20 seconds at the most.

My own doctor's reasoning was that it wasn't very tied so I should wait to see if it caused any speech problems before doing anything. I decided that a quick snip at 6weeks wouldn't be remembered by the following day whereas waiting to see if there was a problem would mean a very traumatised 2-4 year old!!

There are all sorts of things that you can do better if you can stick your tongue out of your mouth ... like poking your tongue out Tongue

licking an icecream Grin

french kiss Kiss

For the 3 year old with speech delay ... I would ask around for a doctor who sees a lot of tongue-ties and ask their opinion. Don't go for the opinion of someone who doesn't actually deal with tongue-tie etc all the time.

For the 6 year old - maybe check out some websites on tongue-tie. There will be people who have gotten it done on older children - they'll be able to tell you if messy eating and teeth problems are a cause.

« Last Edit: June 18, 2008, 10:24:39 AM by healthybratt »
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Re: Babies/Children with Tongue Tie
« Reply #6 on: June 18, 2008, 06:49:13 AM » by pljammie

The lady that told me that the tongue tie was why his tongue was a heart shape has a son with it as well. Her son was like mine and had no speech delays so she didn't have it clipped. (My son did not nurse well but I didn't realize it was because of this.) However, she says that it is part of the reason her son has more dental carries than her other children. Also she pointed out the messy eating as well. Here is a piece of an article I found online and I wonder if having it clipped would have prevented some of his dental problems like his baby teeth coming in wrong. Of course, it's too late to fix his baby teeth problem but for those with babies it might be something to think about. The quote below if from Dr. Greene's website.

Quote

When most people hear the term "tongue-tied", they picture someone nervous, stammering, and at a loss for words. Tongue-tie isn't just a cartoon caricature or picturesque description of an embarrassing moment; it is a relatively common physical condition.

During fetal development, cords of tissue called frenula form in the front-center of the mouth, beginning as early as 4 weeks of gestation. The word "frenulum" comes from the Latin word for bridle. A bridle can be used to guide a horse. In roughly the same way, the frenula guide the development of the structures of the mouth. Early in development, the frenula are important, strong cords, which then recede over time. After birth, they are still useful in guiding the positions of the baby teeth as they come in.

Thanks for all your thoughts and experiences.
Jammie

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