This much we know!
My baby was having real problems breast feeding as a result of his tongue tie. At 11 weeks we had his tongue tie divided and we have never looked back.. This much we know...
Tongue tie is the name for when the piece of skin that joins the tongue to the base of the mouth is too tight.
The tightness of the skin doesn't allow the baby's tongue to protrude very far out of the mouth. If you are bottle feeding your baby this isn't a problem but if you are breast feeding it causes difficulty because the baby's tongue can't create the right position for successful and comfortable latching on.
The main sign for me, and a common one for tongue tied babies, was that breast feeding was agony. Despite help and advice from health professionals the only comfortable position to feed in was lying down. I kept suffering from engorgement which then meant it was even harder for my baby to latch on which made things worse. I knew that I was positioning my baby correctly but even then I was suffering badly from sore nipples.
After feeds my baby was bringing a lot of milk up, and that I discovered was another classic sign of a tongue tie.
There are hospitals with consultants who specialise in the procedure of dividing tongue tie. I travelled to a hospital in Southampton. My baby was 11 weeks old when his tongue tie was divided, the procedure took 1 minute from start to finish.
Sometimes. It depends on how severe the tongue tie is. It may not be necessary as some tongue ties stretch with exercise and some tongue ties can snap accidentally when a toy or spoon is put in the baby's mouth.
My preference was to get my baby's tongue tie divided as soon as I could because I wanted to breast feed successfully.
At the hospital, you fill in some paperwork, your baby's tongue is examined. The breast feeding mum is made comfortable ready to breast feed as soon as the tongue tie procedure is over. Your baby is away from you for 1 minute while the tongue tie is cut by the doctor. As soon as the procedure is completed the baby is placed on your breast to feed. The average time that the baby cries for following the tongue tie procedure is 15 seconds! You will notice an immediate improvement with breast feeding. There's no bleeding and no follow up appointment is needed!
Tongue Tie can cause problems with your baby's breast feeding. It can cause problems as the baby grows older with any activity which involves sticking the tongue out: licking a lolly would be difficult. Tongue tie can also cause problems with speech.
I would recommend that you get the tongue tie procedure done as soon as possible. Before 10 weeks is probably the best idea for breast feeding babies. My son had his tongue tie divided at 11 weeks. If you have the tongue tie cut before the age of 3 years it does not require a general anesthetic, after 3 years it requires an operation rather than just a 1 minute procedure.