Tongue and Lip Tied Babies
If your little bundle of joy is having feeding problems, they likely have tongue or lip and buccal ties. Here are common issues a baby with tongue or lip ties might have.
- poor weight gain, or mother has heavy let down to compensate.
- bloating, air swallowing, burping, farting
- pacifier won’t stay in, or baby won’t take
- milk dribbles out of mouth
- lips apart, mouth breathing, snoring
- congested nose, snotty nose
- ear infections due to milk regurgitating
- frustration with breast
- more than 20 minutes per feeding
- eating frequently, every 2-3 hours.
- baby stops breathing, high palate
- poor latch on breast or bottle
- gets sleepy when feeding
- white tongue that isn’t thrush, milk tongue
- slides off the nipple or chomping the nipple
- fussy, cries, screaming baby.
- reflux, spitting up frequently
- clicking sound when feeding is often a posterior tongue tie
- smacking sound, lip folded in instead of flanged out which is a lip tie
“I’m Gonna Bite Ya Nips!”
- Tongue tie: Anterior or Posterior
- Lip tie: The thick string under the upper lip
- Buccal ties: Thick strings under cheeks.
Mom’s symptoms
- Painful nursing, needing a nipple shield to tolerate
- Cracked, creased, flattened nipples
- Bleeding nipples
- Plugged ducts, mastitis
- Having to nurse like it’s your job
- Frustration
How can this be fixed?
There is a tight restrictive band of tissue under the tongue or lip. If you were to get behind the baby and lift the tongue up to see the string under the tongue, you can sometimes see that band. If you and the baby are having symptoms get an evaluation from a preferred provider for a release.
A frenectomy is the procedure. This is the way the restricted frenum is released. It can be done with scalpel, scissors, or laser. The best way is laser, especially the CO2 laser. Here is a video from Dr Chelsea Pinto who does the baby releases at The Breathe Institute.
RESOURCES FOR MY LADIES
*Find your State’s facebook tongue tie group by searching “tongue tie [your state]” to find a preferred provider near you. If you go to your pediatrician you will make yourself crazy because you are unlikely to get someone to properly assess for ties if they are not tie-savvy.
*Research a tie-savvy lactation consultant. I like Holistic Lactation. She does podcasts and also virtual therapy.
** I work with providers all over the United States and Australia and would be happy to give you a referal for any services that can help you and your famility but fall outside of Orofacial Myology.
* For Patients in my home city of Colorado I refer to Dr Jesse Witkoff at Colorado Tongue Tie in Denver, CO. and Dr. Liz Turner at Aspen Dental in Cherry Creek, C.O.
For Mid-West Patients I refer to Dr. Matt Anderson in the Davenport, IA area.
For my Idaho friends in my hometown of Boise, I refer to Bret Christensen in Lewiston, ID. He does Airway Orthodontics and Tongue Tie releases.
Still Have Questions? Message Me
