Tongue Tie - Anyone in UK wih experience of this ( Cross Posted )

[Debbie Harrison]

My friend has a two month son who has a tongue tie. She is currently
managing to breast feed even though his tongue tie is causing some
difficulties. She has been told by her GP and Hospital Paediatrician that
nothing will be done about it until he is at least 2 when he is beginning to
talk. Does anyone else have any experience of tongue tie and any useful
infromation/help that I can pass on to her.

Many thanks in advance.

Debbie

[Sue]

I am no expert, but I do know there have been quite a few babies on this
board to receive a frenulum clip and they were definitely younger than 2
years old. Dagny, who posts on here, I believe her son's was clipped a few
weeks after birth. I think your friend needs to find someone else.
Breastfeeding can be difficult if the frenulum is too tight. Others will
pipe in, but I did just want to let you know that it can be done earlier.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)

"Debbie Harrison" > wrote in message
k...
> My friend has a two month son who has a tongue tie. She is currently
> managing to breast feed even though his tongue tie is causing some
> difficulties. She has been told by her GP and Hospital Paediatrician that
> nothing will be done about it until he is at least 2 when he is beginning
to
> talk. Does anyone else have any experience of tongue tie and any useful
> infromation/help that I can pass on to her.
>
> Many thanks in advance.
>
> Debbie
>
>

[Phil Armstrong]

Debbie Harrison > wrote:
> My friend has a two month son who has a tongue tie. She is currently
> managing to breast feed even though his tongue tie is causing some
> difficulties. She has been told by her GP and Hospital Paediatrician that
> nothing will be done about it until he is at least 2 when he is beginning to
> talk. Does anyone else have any experience of tongue tie and any useful
> infromation/help that I can pass on to her.

She might want to talk to her local La Leche League contact for help &
advise with breast feeding with a tongue tie. They have lots of useful
contacts and experience with all sorts of breast feeding issues.

Can't suggest much else unfortunately...

Phil

--
http://www.kantaka.co.uk/ .oOo. public key: http://www.kantaka.co.uk/gpg.txt

[Anne Rogers]

only indirect experience, I know there is someone in Southampton who does
it, I can get details if you want, my friends' take on the matter was that
the risk of the snip was low and waiting to see if it caused problems to
avoid a low risk snip under local anaethestic seemed silly, when if it
caused problems it would have already caused a speech delay and require a
general anaesthetic.

Anne

[Sarah Vaughan]

Yes, me. My son was born with a tongue tie, which we eventually had
snipped when he was two months old. The full story is a bit long to go
into right now, but suffice it to say that I am now convinced that (1)
it would have been a darned sight better if he could have had it snipped
at birth, and (2) given that this didn't happen, I'm still very glad
that we had it done when we did instead of faffing around for the next
year the way the local authorities apparently thought we should.


In message >, Debbie
Harrison > writes
>My friend has a two month son who has a tongue tie. She is currently
>managing to breast feed even though his tongue tie is causing some
>difficulties.

Is her baby gaining weight properly? Jamie wasn't, and we finally had
to face the fact that it was due to his tongue tie despite the fact that
the pain had almost settled. He just couldn't get the milk in properly.
Unfortunately, by then my supply had gone down and it took a lot of
pumping and hassle to get his weight up.

> She has been told by her GP and Hospital Paediatrician that
>nothing will be done about it until he is at least 2 when he is beginning to
>talk.

Which is the same sort of misinformed rubbish I faced. Apart from all
the
problems with breastfeeding, it's also much easier to do in a small
baby. Jamie's tongue tie was clipped there and then in the office,
whereas if I'd left it until he was a toddler he'd have needed a general
anaesthetic to get it fixed. I know it sounds harsh, but it only took a
second to do and I could nurse him immediately, which comforted him. It
really was so much easier than a hospital stay and general anaesthetic
would have been for a toddler.

> Does anyone else have any experience of tongue tie and any useful
>infromation/help that I can pass on to her.

Yes - Linz looked up some great links when this happened to me.

<http://www.babyfriendly.org.uk/tonguetie.asp> will help her find the
nearest person who will do it (unless she's lucky, she'll have to travel
out of the area).

<http://www.babycentre.co.uk/refcap/552046.html> and
<http://www.abm.me.uk/tonguetieresearch.htm> have general info which she
may find useful.

<http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/bfhelp-tonguetie.html> has lots of
links. One of these,
<http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/110/5/e63/T1>,
is a scale which will allow her to evaluate the severity of her baby's
tongue tie - when I rated Jamie's on this, I realised it was worse than
I'd thought just from looking at it. However, it's from a medical
article and has a lot of medical terminology, so it isn't the easiest
thing in the world to use. Basically, if she's getting pain or the baby
isn't gaining weight, I'd recommend she has it done even if she needs to
go out of area.

>Many thanks in advance.

You're very welcome. After the problems we had with this, I feel very
strongly about helping out other people in the same position. Please
let me know if she wants any more advice, help, feedback or whatever
from someone who's BTDT.


All the best,

Sarah

--
http://www.goodenoughmummy.blogspot.com

But how do we _know_ that nobody ever said on their deathbed that they wished
they’d spent more time at the office?

[Michelle Podnar]

They only need to clip if there is some problems with breastfeeding an
weight gain.....me and both my girls are/were tongue tied......I had no
problem breastfeeding either of them, and I got mine clipped at the age of
19 (it was pulling on my bottom gums too hard, and it would have pulled the
gums away and my teeth would have fallen out-not an attractive look)....

but if it is causing a problem, I have heard of it being done at just a few
days old (her in Canada)

--
Michelle P
Ava Marie July 14, 2002
Elise Josephine December 19, 2004
"Debbie Harrison" > wrote in message
k...
> My friend has a two month son who has a tongue tie. She is currently
> managing to breast feed even though his tongue tie is causing some
> difficulties. She has been told by her GP and Hospital Paediatrician that
> nothing will be done about it until he is at least 2 when he is beginning
to
> talk. Does anyone else have any experience of tongue tie and any useful
> infromation/help that I can pass on to her.
>
> Many thanks in advance.
>
> Debbie
>
>

[Debbie Harrison]

Thanks Sue for replying. I will pass your information on to my friend.
Debbie

"Sue" > wrote in message
news:jNudndd6DfMaV9fenZ2dnUVZ_s2dnZ2d@wideopenwest .com...
>I am no expert, but I do know there have been quite a few babies on this
> board to receive a frenulum clip and they were definitely younger than 2
> years old. Dagny, who posts on here, I believe her son's was clipped a few
> weeks after birth. I think your friend needs to find someone else.
> Breastfeeding can be difficult if the frenulum is too tight. Others will
> pipe in, but I did just want to let you know that it can be done earlier.
> --
> Sue (mom to three girls)
>
> "Debbie Harrison" > wrote in message
> k...
>> My friend has a two month son who has a tongue tie. She is currently
>> managing to breast feed even though his tongue tie is causing some
>> difficulties. She has been told by her GP and Hospital Paediatrician that
>> nothing will be done about it until he is at least 2 when he is beginning
> to
>> talk. Does anyone else have any experience of tongue tie and any useful
>> infromation/help that I can pass on to her.
>>
>> Many thanks in advance.
>>
>> Debbie
>>
>>
>
>

[Debbie Harrison]

Thanks Sue for replying. I will pass your information on to my friend.
Debbie


"Sue" > wrote in message
news:jNudndd6DfMaV9fenZ2dnUVZ_s2dnZ2d@wideopenwest .com...
>I am no expert, but I do know there have been quite a few babies on this
> board to receive a frenulum clip and they were definitely younger than 2
> years old. Dagny, who posts on here, I believe her son's was clipped a few
> weeks after birth. I think your friend needs to find someone else.
> Breastfeeding can be difficult if the frenulum is too tight. Others will
> pipe in, but I did just want to let you know that it can be done earlier.
> --
> Sue (mom to three girls)
>
> "Debbie Harrison" > wrote in message
> k...
>> My friend has a two month son who has a tongue tie. She is currently
>> managing to breast feed even though his tongue tie is causing some
>> difficulties. She has been told by her GP and Hospital Paediatrician that
>> nothing will be done about it until he is at least 2 when he is beginning
> to
>> talk. Does anyone else have any experience of tongue tie and any useful
>> infromation/help that I can pass on to her.
>>
>> Many thanks in advance.
>>
>> Debbie
>>
>>
>
>

[Debbie Harrison]

It was the BF counsellor that advised her to go to the GP. However she has
helped my friend to continue BF.

"Phil Armstrong" > wrote in message
...
> Debbie Harrison > wrote:
>> My friend has a two month son who has a tongue tie. She is currently
>> managing to breast feed even though his tongue tie is causing some
>> difficulties. She has been told by her GP and Hospital Paediatrician that
>> nothing will be done about it until he is at least 2 when he is beginning
>> to
>> talk. Does anyone else have any experience of tongue tie and any useful
>> infromation/help that I can pass on to her.
>
> She might want to talk to her local La Leche League contact for help &
> advise with breast feeding with a tongue tie. They have lots of useful
> contacts and experience with all sorts of breast feeding issues.
>
> Can't suggest much else unfortunately...
>
> Phil
>
> --
> http://www.kantaka.co.uk/ .oOo. public key:
> http://www.kantaka.co.uk/gpg.txt

[Debbie Harrison]

My friend is in agreement that it is silly to put a 2yr old under GA when it
could be done now with a local. I will let you know if she requires any more
info. Thanks
"Anne Rogers" > wrote in message
...
> only indirect experience, I know there is someone in Southampton who does
> it, I can get details if you want, my friends' take on the matter was that
> the risk of the snip was low and waiting to see if it caused problems to
> avoid a low risk snip under local anaethestic seemed silly, when if it
> caused problems it would have already caused a speech delay and require a
> general anaesthetic.
>
> Anne
>

[Debbie Harrison]

Sarah

Thankyou so much for all the info ( and Linz for the links ). I will pass it
all on to my friend and if she has any further questions I will come back to
you. I think she is thinking of having it done and the nearest to us would
either be Brisol or Nottingham. Again I willlet you know what she decides.

Thanks again

Debbie
"Sarah Vaughan" > wrote in message
...
> Yes, me. My son was born with a tongue tie, which we eventually had
> snipped when he was two months old. The full story is a bit long to go
> into right now, but suffice it to say that I am now convinced that (1) it
> would have been a darned sight better if he could have had it snipped at
> birth, and (2) given that this didn't happen, I'm still very glad that we
> had it done when we did instead of faffing around for the next year the
> way the local authorities apparently thought we should.
>
>
> In message >, Debbie
> Harrison > writes
>>My friend has a two month son who has a tongue tie. She is currently
>>managing to breast feed even though his tongue tie is causing some
>>difficulties.
>
> Is her baby gaining weight properly? Jamie wasn't, and we finally had to
> face the fact that it was due to his tongue tie despite the fact that the
> pain had almost settled. He just couldn't get the milk in properly.
> Unfortunately, by then my supply had gone down and it took a lot of
> pumping and hassle to get his weight up.
>
>> She has been told by her GP and Hospital Paediatrician that
>>nothing will be done about it until he is at least 2 when he is beginning
>>to
>>talk.
>
> Which is the same sort of misinformed rubbish I faced. Apart from all the
> problems with breastfeeding, it's also much easier to do in a small baby.
> Jamie's tongue tie was clipped there and then in the office, whereas if
> I'd left it until he was a toddler he'd have needed a general anaesthetic
> to get it fixed. I know it sounds harsh, but it only took a second to do
> and I could nurse him immediately, which comforted him. It really was so
> much easier than a hospital stay and general anaesthetic would have been
> for a toddler.
>
>> Does anyone else have any experience of tongue tie and any useful
>>infromation/help that I can pass on to her.
>
> Yes - Linz looked up some great links when this happened to me.
>
> <http://www.babyfriendly.org.uk/tonguetie.asp> will help her find the
> nearest person who will do it (unless she's lucky, she'll have to travel
> out of the area).
>
> <http://www.babycentre.co.uk/refcap/552046.html> and
> <http://www.abm.me.uk/tonguetieresearch.htm> have general info which she
> may find useful.
>
> <http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/bfhelp-tonguetie.html> has lots of
> links. One of these,
> <http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/110/5/e63/T1>, is
> a scale which will allow her to evaluate the severity of her baby's tongue
> tie - when I rated Jamie's on this, I realised it was worse than I'd
> thought just from looking at it. However, it's from a medical article and
> has a lot of medical terminology, so it isn't the easiest thing in the
> world to use. Basically, if she's getting pain or the baby isn't gaining
> weight, I'd recommend she has it done even if she needs to go out of area.
>
>>Many thanks in advance.
>
> You're very welcome. After the problems we had with this, I feel very
> strongly about helping out other people in the same position. Please let
> me know if she wants any more advice, help, feedback or whatever from
> someone who's BTDT.
>
>
> All the best,
>
> Sarah
>
> --
> http://www.goodenoughmummy.blogspot.com
>
> But how do we _know_ that nobody ever said on their deathbed that they
> wished
> they'd spent more time at the office?
>

[Debbie Harrison]

Thanks Michelle. She is having problems BF and weight gain is slow but the
Drs wont do anything until he is 2. I think she will pay and have it done
privately.

Debbie
"Michelle Podnar" > wrote in message
.. .
> They only need to clip if there is some problems with breastfeeding an
> weight gain.....me and both my girls are/were tongue tied......I had no
> problem breastfeeding either of them, and I got mine clipped at the age of
> 19 (it was pulling on my bottom gums too hard, and it would have pulled
> the
> gums away and my teeth would have fallen out-not an attractive look)....
>
> but if it is causing a problem, I have heard of it being done at just a
> few
> days old (her in Canada)
>
> --
> Michelle P
> Ava Marie July 14, 2002
> Elise Josephine December 19, 2004
> "Debbie Harrison" > wrote in message
> k...
>> My friend has a two month son who has a tongue tie. She is currently
>> managing to breast feed even though his tongue tie is causing some
>> difficulties. She has been told by her GP and Hospital Paediatrician that
>> nothing will be done about it until he is at least 2 when he is beginning
> to
>> talk. Does anyone else have any experience of tongue tie and any useful
>> infromation/help that I can pass on to her.
>>
>> Many thanks in advance.
>>
>> Debbie
>>
>>
>
>

[ard]

Debbie Harrison > wrote:

> My friend has a two month son who has a tongue tie. She is currently
> managing to breast feed even though his tongue tie is causing some
> difficulties. She has been told by her GP and Hospital Paediatrician that
> nothing will be done about it until he is at least 2 when he is beginning to
> talk. Does anyone else have any experience of tongue tie and any useful
> infromation/help that I can pass on to her.

<http://breastfeed.com/resources/articles/tonguetied.htm> states 'clip
at birth'
ard

[[email protected]]

In misc.kids.breastfeeding ard > wrote:
: Debbie Harrison > wrote:

:> My friend has a two month son who has a tongue tie. She is currently
:> managing to breast feed even though his tongue tie is causing some
:> difficulties. She has been told by her GP and Hospital Paediatrician that
:> nothing will be done about it until he is at least 2 when he is beginning to
:> talk. Does anyone else have any experience of tongue tie and any useful
:> infromation/help that I can pass on to her.

: <http://breastfeed.com/resources/articles/tonguetied.htm> states 'clip
: at birth'
: ard

Piggybacking, since I don't see the original post. This is correct.
Tongue tie should be clipped ASAP to prevent nursing problems. If
your friend's doctor will not do it, then find a one who will. I have
read stories before of parents having this problem with doctors in
the UK.

Good luck,
Larry

[PattyMomVA]

> wrote in message ...
> In misc.kids.breastfeeding ard > wrote:
> : Debbie Harrison > wrote:
>
> :> My friend has a two month son who has a tongue tie. She is currently
> :> managing to breast feed even though his tongue tie is causing some
> :> difficulties. She has been told by her GP and Hospital Paediatrician
> that
> :> nothing will be done about it until he is at least 2 when he is
> beginning to
> :> talk. Does anyone else have any experience of tongue tie and any useful
> :> infromation/help that I can pass on to her.
>
> : <http://breastfeed.com/resources/articles/tonguetied.htm> states 'clip
> : at birth'
> : ard
>
> Piggybacking, since I don't see the original post. This is correct.
> Tongue tie should be clipped ASAP to prevent nursing problems. If
> your friend's doctor will not do it, then find a one who will. I have
> read stories before of parents having this problem with doctors in
> the UK.
>
> Good luck,
> Larry

I agree with Larry and previous posters. Your friend's GP and ped are not
concerned about successful breastfeeding.

A former regular poster to mkb found someone in the UK to snip her newborn's
tongue-tie. Her travails should be searchable on Google Groups.

Good luck to your friend,
-Patty, mom of 1+2

[Serenity]

Also piggy backing as first message didn't get me either.

Phone the ABM, we can refer straight to consultant for tongue tie snipping.

0870 401 7711

[Anne Rogers]

> Piggybacking, since I don't see the original post. This is correct.
> Tongue tie should be clipped ASAP to prevent nursing problems. If
> your friend's doctor will not do it, then find a one who will. I have
> read stories before of parents having this problem with doctors in
> the UK.

the original thread was a long time ago, I'm not sure why ard only just
replied, or why his reply only just appeared, anyway, although the view
tends to be amongst breastfeeders that tongue ties should be snipped,
recently I've talked to a la leche league leader and there really is minimal
evidence for snipping over very active involvement from a lactation
consultant. The problem is the medical profession is over medicalising the
snipping of tongue ties, they want it done by oral surgeons, rather than the
old fashioned midwife with a sharp finger nail, which then means to snip
every baby who presents would be very costly, rather than a routine part of
a newborn check. I think there really needs to be more research.

Anne

[Serenity]

Have you read the most recent literature review as done by NICE?
The LLL leader should be aware of the strong evidence in favour.
The research information is all here:
Public info
http://www.nice.org.uk/pdf/ip/IPG149publicinfo.pdf

Practitioners' info:
http://www.nice.org.uk/pdf/ip/IPG149guidance.pdf


Serenity

[Anne Rogers]

> Have you read the most recent literature review as done by NICE?
> The LLL leader should be aware of the strong evidence in favour.
> The research information is all here:
> Public info
> http://www.nice.org.uk/pdf/ip/IPG149publicinfo.pdf
>
> Practitioners' info:
> http://www.nice.org.uk/pdf/ip/IPG149guidance.pdf

Thanks, although the release date was given as December, when we discussed
the issue in a meeting in January, people were under the impression these
were still pending, rather than already in existance. However I don't think
it will change what the local hospital is planning to do, which is look into
who would do it and when, which I think is the most significant problem.

Anne