Short lingual frenulum?

[VickV]

At her ped check Monday, the doctor noted that Olivia has a short frenulum - she said no when I asked if that meant she was tongue-tied, but the distinction seems pretty narrow between the two.

She definitely has a shallower latch, and BFing is a little painful, but it's nothing I can't handle if the problem will go away over time. The ped said many kids outgrow it, but she could refer me to an ENT doc if I wanted to have it clipped ...

Has anyone BTDT with this one? What did you do?

[LianneM]

Not in your ddc but my son has a short frenulum (my dh does too). I had some bfing pain and minor latch issues, and I just moved his tongue around some every day with my finger - just playing, letting him gum my fingers a little, etc. and I was pain-free within two weeks (that included time to heal a cracked nipple - ouch!)

I think you can google for actual OT exercises you can do with him. I have a friend whose son was actually tongue-tied (tongue was heart-shaped and everything) and she was able to use them to solve it with no clipping. Definitely worth a try, especially if your son's is very minor. I really think for serious cases where BFing is not going well, etc. that clipping is often the right decision, but without a true tongue-tie, I'd keep working on latch and just play with it. HTH!

ETA: Of course I can't find anything for infants : I know I have seen it before though.

[SheBear]

BTDT with my first, and it was HELL!!! The ped and hosp. nurses gave me the same line--no big deal, most kids outgrow it, it would only possibly be a problem maybe when he starts to learn to talk,

But by 3 weeks, my nipples were shredded--no exaggeration. My right side didn't even look like I HAD a nipple, bleeding, major pain, etc. TBH, that nipple still is deformed, although it seems to work okay. It's weird looking and takes more work (for me) to help them latch on well. I guess it's just scarred.

Thankfully, I had a friend who helped me find a good LC, and she really went to bat for me. She gave me lots of info, and even ended up calling our Ped (who was saying it wasn't a big deal, because ds was gaining weight just fine, so it couldn't be a problem) and begging/demanding that they give me a referral to an ENT.

We finally had his tongue clipped at 3 weeks, and the very next time he latched on, I felt SUCH an amazing difference! Immediate! Even though it still took 2 more months before I was completely healed (because of how bad the tissue damage was), I could tell from that first feeding that the damage was not continuing, if that makes sense.

Also, because ds's latch was not effective, my milk took a long time to come in. Five days before I had any milk, and more than a week before I felt like my breasts were "full". And he was nursing 40 minutes out of every hour. Seriously. Less than that, he prolly wouldn't have been gaining weight. And of course, with that much CONSTANT nursing, the damage to my nipples was that much worse.

I also think that I may have never really had a great supply with him, due to not getting a good start. I always noticed a big drop anytime I got sick, or stressed, and definitely (after my cycles returned) when I was ovulating. It just seemed like my supply was always in jeopardy, something I always had to be super careful to protect.

Anyway, we managed to nurse until he was three (through pregnancy, and tandem for a year!) but I just know there's no way we could have persevered without having the frenulectomy.

Anyway, that's just my experience, and it may not be as severe with your dd. But I just would hate for someone else to go through even a tiny bit of what we had to endure when it could be so easily and quickly corrected. Hope that helps somehow, and I hope that your problems don't get worse!

Also, the procedure was super simple. The ENT examined his tongue, then just put a bit of lidocaine-type gel on his tongue, waited a couple minutes, then took little scissors and clipped it. Took literally just a couple minutes, and ds really didn't fuss much. Maybe 3 drops of blood. They did warn me not to nurse him for at least an hour after, because the numbing gel might cause him to choke if I tried to nurse him before the numbness wore off. But he fell asleep in the elevator on the way back to the parking lot, and didn't wake up until 2 hours later! And as I said, he had no trouble, and seemed to have no pain from the clipping at that first feeding. It really was easy-peasy, and IMO, SOOOOO worth it!

[georgia]

You might want to check Dr. Palmer's info out...HTH with some more info

[VickV]

Thanks so much for the feedback, ladies. Sarah, she's not shredding my nipples, but BFing is still pretty painful, compared with the first time around. And Georgia, that link sealed the deal - I'm asking around for ENT reccs asap!!

[wholewheatmama]

I'm glad you brought this up Vick. My daughter was born with a short frenulum too. And, I have totally heard the term interchangable with tongue tie. I was told there could be the two major issues - breastfeeding and speech. Interestingly, I was also born with a tongue tie. I was breastfed without problem until a year of age, but I did have some speech difficulties, leading mine to be clipped at that point. Mine was actually done by a plastic surgeon.

Iris is not having any BFing problems, although I have some nipple pain on one side - I'm not sure it's related to her tongue tie though as the left nipple is just fine. I was told that the frenulum can "stretch out" over time, although that is disputed in Dr. Palmer's info. I am concerned about the possibility of speech problems and wonder if it's not best to just clip it now as a preventative measure.

My chiro's son had a tongue tie which was clipped at two weeks. She'd been having some BFing issues, which were immediately corrected after the clip. Her pediatrician did it right in the office. I have heard that some peds like to refer them out...I guess it depends on the ped.

Keep us posted on what you do. I see the ped tomorrow and will ask for more info and report back too.

[VickV]

Well, my ENT consult today turned into having it done - I didn't really expect that, but it's good that it's resolved. When he checked her today, he said it was really short and tight, and with it being right at the tip of her tongue and there being a negative affect on breastfeeding, he'd recommend the procedure.

I held her while the doctor clipped her frenulum, and for the seemingly worse insult of his gloved fingers holding gauze to the bleeding. Within two minutes of the procedure, she was asleep. The doc waited ~ 10 minutes to come back and check the site and see if there was much pain or bleeding - she barely woke up. I nursed her before we left the office and I swear I felt an improvement already ... she's done a little damage over the past 9 days, so nursing will likely be a bit uncomfortable for a while still, but I should notice a big improvement in her latch within a few days.

Thanks so much for the feedback and support!

[crsta33]

Glad things went so well. Healing vibes for your sore boobs and her little tongue.

Christa

[wholewheatmama]

Wow Vick, glad it has improved things already! Did he use any local anesthetic or just clip away? I've heard of both.

I saw my ped yesterday, and Iris has not regained all of her weight yet, not sure if it's due to the frenulum or something else. He also refers out to an ENT for the procedure, and I think I am going to go ahead and ask for the referral. I don't want to wait for a speech problem to declare itself and regret not having had it done earlier.

I'm glad it was a simple and relatively painless thing for Olivia. Definitely sounds like the right choice for you two.