Tongue Tied - Saint Paul,MN

We have two very successful sons, ages 27 and 25. They both still ARE tongue tied. It hasn't bothered either of them a bit.

Hi J.,
I've never responded on here before, but I found interest in your case. I don't have a lot of advice and I'm not a professional or anything, but I really want to urge you to look into getting your son's tongue clipped. As an undergrad I studied speech pathology and have a number of friends who are certified Speech Pathologist. They would all recommend have a tied tongue clipped. Just my two cents. Hope it helps a little.

Jess

My son, now 7 mo., was tongue tied and my Dr. originally advised that we leave it alone...my son continued to struggle with breast feeding so at 3 mo. old my Dr. clipped it. Other than a little bleeding initially (that lasted only about 30 sec.) we have had to problems since...very glad we did it.

My 17 month old daughter's pediatric dentist was the one that caught her tongue tie at her 1 year check up. He recommended that we get it clipped as soon as possible. I went to her pediatrician for a second opinion, and they told me that they would recommend doing nothing.

I researched this online and went back to the dentist and asked why my doctor didn't seem to think that this was a big deal, and he told me that they rarely check for this unless there is an issue with a baby gaining weight, and we did not have that issue. He said that he sees enough of them that he can pretty much tell if there will be an issue down the road with speech and said that in my daughter's case that we could wait, but he would not recommend it due to the speech delay issues that we would face.

She had her tongue clipped in August, and it was traumatic for her (and her dad and I), not because of pain, she was completely numb, however, we ended up having to use a baby straight jacket, and there was a lot of equipment in her mouth to do it. She was old enough to understand that she didn't like this, but not old enough to reason with. After the procedure she was sore (tender) for about 2 1/2 days, but we started seeing changes in her ability to eat and speak immediately.

As traumatic as this experience was for her, I would make the same decision again. She is starting to talk now, however, there are pronunciation issues already, I can't even imagine what we would have experienced if we waited until she was three. She is eating better, and is night and day better at not making messes and eating foods and not gagging and spitting up anymore.

I would recommend talking to someone besides your pediatrician about this for a second opion, I have read over and over that they (pediatricians) tend to ignore it, and if you talk to someone who deals with this issue specifically more often, they might be able to advise you better, and at least give you enough information to make an informed decision that YOU and your son can live with.

I was born tongue tied & my mom said the Dr snipped it in the hospital. Then my daughter was born tongue tied and her pediatrician wouldn't snip it. He was fine with having her having eating issues & speech therapy. We were not. We went to an ENT and he snipped it immediately at that same appointment and it hasn't been an issue since. Best thing we did for our daughter was seeking out someone who would snip her tongue! Good Luck!!

My now 7 month old daughter was tongue tied. She was gaining weight just fine, in fact she was 11 lbs at her 3 week check up, that is the first time we were able to see our regular pediatrician. Our Dr. was very excited to see her weight, then look at me with a concerned look during the exam and said, "Has no other Dr. told you she is togue tied?" No other Dr. had, but it explains why I am sore and have cracked nipples! (this is my third baby in three years and I've never had sore nipples) She reffered me to an ENT and we went 4 days later. The ENT said it was a minor case (one of my other kids was also minor but less then this and the Dr. said it would probably strech) she did give us the choice of to cut or not to cut? My husband and I had discussed this and talked to lots of our friends before I took her to the ENT. We had heard from frinds that had not had it done that it cause some speech problems. My husband had dated a women who was TT, he said she was very sexually self consious. The Dr. confirmed all those thimgs, the speech, and the sexuality. She said she has had to help many early teens that have tried to do it themselves at home. THAT was the deciding factor!! Being a teen is hard enough, you add on possible speech problems and sexual self consiousness to that.... She also said that now (when little) they don't have to use gereral anisithia (spelling?) they just used a topical numbing agent (which was the worst part of the whole thing, just holding a Q tip with the topical under her tongue) When they get older they have to use a sedative! Good luck!!!! It is your choice!
I believe we made the right choice for us. She has days were she does nothing but stick her tongue out. It is so cute and I think how happy I am we had this done! (The nursing for me was also greatly improved!)

My daughter is 3 weeks old and was born "tongue-tied" I had her in to a ENT doctor ASAP and had it snipped. She wasn't able to breastfeed with sucess and I had so many people tell me to do it and that she'd end up with speech problems later on in life and never beable to lick a icecream cone.

It was definately hard to watch a doctor snip my newborn(she's also a preemie) but I knew it was in her best interest, she barely bled and was happy and sound again in a few minutes after the procedure.

If your open to having this done I would highly recommend it.

This is funny because our dentist just brought this to my attention last week at a 6 month cleaning--my son is now 11-years-old!! He's never had any eating, or speech problems, so there's no reason to clip (in his case).

My DS had a hard time breastfeeding in the hospital and it was determined that he was tongue tied. They wanted an ENT to do it, but before he could be released from the hospital he had to have a "normal" poop and he couldn't because he didn't get enough milk to clear out his system. He couldn't nurse well because he was tongue tied. We felt stuck in a nasty cycle! Finally, at 3 days old, his DR clipped his tongue (sounds way worse than it is) and all was solved. I am a teacher and I have had students (as old as 1st grade)hav their tongue clipped to try to help with speech issues. Ask your doctor!

I can't imagine that being tongue tied is what is making your son a picky eater. Some kids just are :( He might not have the full grasp of what to do with a solid chunk of food in his mouth either. Give him some time.
I was tongue tied when I was born. My dentist snipped it when I was around 5yrs old. I never had problems with talking for food.
My 8 yr old cousin is tongue tied and they have not snipped his. He nursed VERY well (until 18mo) and eats normally and speaks normally. They have no reason to snip it unless he wants it done for personal reasons when he's older.

Are you nursing? I would try later. Babies can sustain themselves nursing alone for quite some time and in America the push for solids is earlier than in many cultures. Try some cereal mixes with breast milk or formula if he is bottle fed and make it very thin. Work up to thicker cereal in a few weeks.
Also, consult the site Ask Dr Sears. Dr. Sears has never failed me!
Good luck and be patient.
J.