Tongue tie | Imamother

amother

Heather

Mon, Aug 08 2022, 3:48 pm

Please just have it snipped and let your baby develop normal feeding and language development.

That's the best gift you can give them.

Dont know why so many are hysterical about it.

Its a quick procedure. A bit of pain and then over…for life.

Instead of a child not eating and speaking normally, therapy (if it works) and long term issues and dealing with it. All this is definitely not more “humane”.

(And please explain how massaging the cranium snips a tongue tie…c’mon, really now?!)

Sometimes things “have to be done”. We do them and move on.

I truly don't get it.

amother

Foxglove

Mon, Aug 08 2022, 4:05 pm

Apparently to some degree it's genetic. I got four out of five of my kids' done as infants because it was obvious they needed it -- they weren't able to nurse effectively.

The fifth one nursed fine, and no one mentioned he might have a tongue tie, so I never asked.

He had to get it done instead at age 9. At that point it was no longer a simple "snip," but a real surgery with sutures and anesthesia and a surgeon and everything. So glad we did it, he was really struggling with speech and some other issues. He was so excited afterwards at how much easier everything was! (Although he did need some speech therapy and OT afterwards, after all those years of not using those muscles.)

It's a very simple procedure. They cry about as much for it as they do when they get a diaper rash and you need to change their diaper. Make sure to go to someone who is good, though, and do whatever exercises they do afterwards so it doesn't re-seal. It's SO worth it if it's causing problems. And it may be worth it even if it isn't causing problems in infancy...although I guess there's no way to know?

I'm expecting again, and one thing I plan on doing is making 100% sure about whether the baby has a tongue tie. If they do, I will get it revised in the hospital.

amother

Latte

Mon, Aug 08 2022, 4:14 pm

People who use Craniosacral are focusing on function rather than the actual piece of skin. So if they can achieve full range of movement just using Craniosacral, which purports to loosen tightness in the body, this can theoretically be just as satisfactory as having it revised. However, the in my experience snipping is a better and more permanent resolution, as long as exercises are done right after to make sure it doesn’t reattach. Craniosacral and or myofunctional therapy along with traditional frenectomy seems to yield the best results.

amother

Foxglove

Mon, Aug 08 2022, 4:19 pm

amother [ Butterscotch ] wrote:

Dr Kotlow in Albany does it through a laser procedure, so there's no "cutting".
He's very well known.

Just fyi, there's not necessarily a benefit of laser over snipping. Anecdotally, my kids who have had the procedure done with a cut have not cried or seemed to experience any more pain afterwards than those who had it done by laser.

There is sometimes more bleeding with snipping, but bleeding is not really a cause for concern since it's such a small snip. Lasering cauterizes the blood vessels, which prevents them from bleeding.
Most doctors who do laser don't let a parent in the room holding the child. Most who snip, do.
Lasering is not as fast of a procedure as snipping. Lasering can take 20-30 seconds, snipping usually takes just a few seconds.

But please, please make your choice based on how experienced the doctor is with this procedure, and not based on what "feels" not as invasive to you. Either one is safe and generally effective. Also, make sure to do the exercises afterwards! They stop it from resealing.