Thursday, 22 March 2012
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Breastfeeding Complication: Tongue-Tied
My 8 month old has been through nine bouts of illnesses in the past six months. Most of the time Leroy gets hit with multiple things. In early February, I finally gave in and quit my job. I felt guilty that I was going to work, while Leroy was at daycare getting sick. I felt guilty that I wasn't breastfeeding and thought, "this wouldn't be happening if I had ignored the pain and stuck with breastfeeding."
When I began working on the medical history section in Leroy's baby book, I realized that none of our pediatricians have ever spoke about Leroy's tongue.
When I was little, I was diagnosed with Ankyloglossia, also known as tongue-tie. It is a common genetic disorder where a child's frenulum (where the front of your tongue attaches to your mouth) is too short or not elastic enough. It can cause children to speak with a lisp, have dental problems, drool, and most importantly have difficulty breast feeding.
I had problems with breastfeeding from the beginning. I spent hours with nurses and lactation consultants trying to "get the latch right." Leroy either wouldn't latch or he would latch and it was extremely painful, even with a nipple shield. I swear, Leroy gave a sigh of relief when I finally gave him a bottle.
I realize now that Leroy is most likely tongue-tied. If the pediatrician had caught this in the hospital, they could have "clipped" Leroy's frenulum immediately. It is a simple and almost painless procedure. It was painless and untraumatic for me, when I had it done as a child (I got to eat Jello and watch movies for a few days!). But I had no idea that the condition could be taken care of so early and I definitely had no idea that it was related to breastfeeding difficulties.
I still take responsibility for this. I should have done research before giving birth and I should have made sure that the pediatrician was aware of the condition. I should have done more research before I gave up breast feeding. I am glad that I am aware of this and intend to find a pediatrician who will agree to perform the procedure immediately if my next child has the same condition.
But considering that it is a relatively common disorder, why aren't we being educated about this in breastfeeding classes? Why aren't pediatricians asking parents about this? Why aren't pediatricians monitoring breast feeding progress to identify structural problems? Why aren't lactation consultants aware of this problem?
Has anyone else heard of this condition or had experience with breastfeeding an infant with this condition?
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- From: LupusInvictus@xanga
- About Me: I live in North Pole Alaska. I garden and cook. I am not good at either.
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Comments (17)
Both of my children were tongue-tied, and I breastfed both of them. My oldest (a girl) was worse than my second (a boy). We never got theirs clipped, my pediatricians didn't like that procedure because unless it's a pretty terrible case, it won't cause life-long problems, and the temporary concerns can be worked through.
With my daughter, breastfeeding was made easier the wider I got her to open her mouth before latching. And by the way, that frenulum loosens over time usually. My daughter could stick out her tongue around the time she turned two or so. But not before. At all.
The reason it isn't that talked about is because it isn't often treated anymore. It's one of those things that pediatricians USED to clip all the time. But now they know most cases don't need that procedure so why put infants through it? My nephew did have his cut in the hospital after being born (his pediatrician is in his upper 60's/70's though, is that a coincidence?). Most cases resolve on their own through use. Sometimes a tight frenulum persists into toddlerhood and can cause some speech problems, but that is easily overcome with speech therapy.
Hey in the picture, his tongue is significantly out of his mouth. His frenulum can't be too tight.
@sarahsmurfette@xanga - I've read that it can stretch out, however mine never did. I was older when I had it clipped, due to speech problems. I was in speech therapy before and after, but I still struggle when I am excited or distracted (I omit sounds I have a hard time with, so mitten = mi-in). The pediatrician has since said that it is moderate and that we should wait to see what his speech is like. When he was born, I probably would have tried longer at breast feeding if I felt like I had support for the structural problems - at the time, people were just chalking it up to being a first time mom, when it was clearly a little more. Knowing that there wasn't something wrong with me as a mother would have been comforting!
@LupusInvictus@xanga - I absolutely agree. It is so sad to me that there is so little good, knowledgeable, kind breastfeeding support. If you get good support, consider yourself lucky.
I know why it is that way though, the lack of good, kind support. I was recently involved with a breastfeeding support group locally and they asked me to become one of their in-house or in-hospital support personnel. I was totally interested until I saw what "training" involved. It was HORRIBLE. Too much, too mean, too time consuming. No wonder nothing but breastfeeding nazis push through that junk. The rest of us have babies to raise.
@sarahsmurfette@xanga - I had both good and bad experiences with nurses and advocates, but it's definitely hard to "train" compassion
My 8 month old son had a tongue tie when he was born and we got it snipped. We saw a breastfeeding specialist and she recommended it because even if we would have formula fed he would have trouble sucking on the bottle. It was a really quick procedure and even though I absolutely hated hearing him cry, literally 2 seconds after it happened he was on the breast eating and was absolutely fine :)
I definitely agree that there needs to be more awareness for these types of things. I actually had A LOT of support from the nurses in the hospital when my son was born to breastfeed and it was actually one of them who recommended that I see a specialist.
@sarahsmurfette@xanga - It can actually cause speech impediments, like studdering. My son was tongue tied and had to have his clipped at a week old. We know someone who is in their mid 20s who is tongue tied and has a terrible studdering problem because of it.
@mamabeans@xanga - Yes, in the second paragraph of my comment I also said it could possibly cause speech impairments. However, those are in very pronounced cases, and pretty rare at that. It is pretty common to have a "tight frenulum" at birth, most cases don't require treatment, that is all I was saying.
Out of curiosity, if your friend's stuttering is caused by a tight frenulum, why can he not have it clipped now?
@sarahsmurfette@xanga - I think he's just so used to it, he doesn't bother to get it clipped. My son wasn't even able to breastfeed at all, it was so upsetting. By the time we had it clipped he was a week old and already preferred the bottle. I kept trying but he wouldn't latch correctly :( It took a month and half of us both getting frustrated and upset before I called it quits on trying to breast feed.
I'm 24 now, and always had a tied tongue. I have never had any issues or what so ever,( no speech impediments or dental problems) so I never considered having it clipped either =]
Did anybody place a bottle nipple over the breast nipple when feeding, or beginning breast feeding? It pulls the breast nipple right into the bottle nipple, and gives the baby something firmer to suck on.
@Pollypinks@xanga - I never tried that, but I used something called a nipple shield (which is a similar idea to the bottle nipple) for a couple weeks before my son got his tongue tie cut and it worked really well :)
I was born tongue tied, but it wasn't severe. However it did cause some issues when it came to saying certain words. I ended up needing it clipped when i got braces (The bottom retainer wouldn't fit), i was 12 when i had it done and it was very painful while healing. I'm happy i got it done though, i was so happy when i was finally able to stick my tongue out farther than my bottom lip! I was concerned my son could have the same thing when he was born but from what i can tell he doesn't. We had some issues breastfeeding, but i don't think his tongue was the problem.
I know it's not ideal, but if your little ones had difficulty latching on, did you pump? Lots of Moms pump and never breastfeed on the breast, particularly moms of preemies or multiples.
"Failure" at breastfeeding is more usually just quitting, or disinterest in general. Which I can totally understand. I'm just not sure you can blame a tight frenulum as the sole culprit.
@sarahsmurfette@xanga - I did pump for a while, but I felt like I didn't have time enough to even cuddle with the baby between his normal feedings, pumping, and cleaning the pump!
@LupusInvictus@xanga - I can see that. And loving on your son, cuddling with him and being happy in that is very important. Aww I miss those little baby days...so long as I forget the exhaustion.
Both of my sons were tongue-tied. We discovered my older son's tongue-tie when he was about a month old after many issues with breastfeeding. Once it was clipped (a simple procedure with cuticle scissors) we had a much easier time of it, and he went on to nurse until he was 21 months old. When my second son was born I asked that his tongue-tie be clipped at birth (it is genetic). He is 10 months old now. :)