This wasn’t mine, but I had my doctor AND lactation consultant tell me basically the same thing. I asked about them clipping his tongue, and they said they don’t do that. We were never able to establish breastfeeding.

YIKES. Ignorant or lying?

Apparently he gets his check from the formula companies.

My second child was born so tongue tied that her tongue was heart shaped. Fortunately I overproduce and was able to pump copious amounts of milk so she could just sort of lay there with her mouth open to nurse. A proper latch requires that the tongue rest on the bottom lip, so if it can’t, they can’t nurse. I finally convinced them when she was 3 months to clip her frenulum. Her latch was never right. I nursed her for 18 months and it hurt every time she latched. It was worth it, but in retrospect I would have demanded they clip her tongue sooner. They were hoping that “when she is older she could just fall and clip it herself.”

My 3rd child was tongue-tied and it was only nursing 3-4 times an hour EVERY hour that he gained weight. He was just so tired. We finally saw our regular ped who referred us to an ENT and it was clipped when he was 3 weeks old. Night and day!!! In retrospect, my 2nd child is mildly tongue-tied (never dx or clipped) and we struggled so much with latching and nursing. Even now @ almost 3, he has some pronunciation issues that are tongue-related. This ped is ignorant, but as our ped said, most peds aren’t trained/informed about tongue-tied infants.

My son was tongue-tied, but rather mildly. We didn’t have problems bf, but it can definitely make it hard or impossible. We had to get him clipped when he was 3 because he couldn’t talk. Horrible time to do it, though because as quick as it is, they put them under at that age so that they don’t move around. He was never scared, but I was heartbroken. Anyway, the doc who doesn’t think tongue-tie can affect bf is an idiot.

And the Dumbass of the Year award goes to ….

Sheesh. This poor baby. This poor mom! In my experience, I’ve found that my ped knew very little about breastfeeding.

Women are learning it the hard way: Pediatricians are not breastfeeding experts. Some know a lot (ours, for one ), some don’t know jack. But if you’re looking for BF advice, there’s no guarantee that you’ll get an educated answer from a ped. Jot down your concerns and take them to the LC or your local La Leche League.

This doc shouldn’t have dealt with things this way, but I just wanted to weigh in. My son had a very severely tied tongue (heart-shaped, as somebody mentioned above) and he never had any trouble nursing at all. He latched really well, nursed like a champ. The only thing was that he made a loud clicking noise when he nursed. I remember feeling so stressed because I read on many different BF advocacy and resource sites that he would have trouble. I waited and contemplated getting his tongue clipped, but we never developed any issues. He nursed until he was 16 months and I never had so much as sore nipples.

Ugh. What an idiot. My month old baby got her frenulum clipped at 8 days old and all of a sudden, it didn’t hurt like mad when she latched! The clicking noise stopped! She was able to keep a latch for more than a few sucks! She started gaining weight! I credit our awesome pediatrician for noticing; something seemed a little off to me, but I couldn’t quite pinpoint it.

Augusta, it sounds like clipping a tongue-tie is like all those other interventions–they shouldn’t be always done or never done; they should be done when necessary to correct a true problem.

MY GOD. The stupid, how it burns us.

As said above, sometimes tongue-tie isn’t a problem for bf-ing. Usually, however, it is and it’s shocking to think that an actual doctor would say that tongue tie doesn’t negatively effect breastfeeding and actually might make it better.
My husband had a 50% tongue-tie that wasn’t diagnosed until we had our second son. His tongue-tie had unknowingly caused his mother a lot of grief and the problems caused by its non-diagnosis was almost certainly a factor in her pnd.
My second son was diagnosed with a 75% tie, heart shapped tongue, clicking, the works. We got it clipped when he was 2 weeks old, which improved things massively.
Unfortunately, he also had/has a very high palette, which hinders bf-ing. I ended up calling a halt at only 4.5 months.
All the problems I had with feeding my second son, after successfully feeding my first, contributed to my own pnd.
It makes me furious when docs say things like this and mothers are left to struggle alone. They do not realise the damage they do.

My older son was severely tongue tied, and it was not caught until he was 6 weeks old. Poor thing was latched on every waking moment and getting just enough milk to make dirty diapers, but not enough to gain weight. I finally decided things were not going right (in spite of what the hospital-based LC and my family prac doc were saying) and made an appt to see a private LC. She took one look in my son’s mouth and said there was no way he could nurse properly with that tie. It was clipped the next day (the pediatric dentist who clipped it said that it was bad enough that it would affect his speech if not treated). And, lo and behold, nursing got sooo much better. We did have to supplement for a few weeks while I rebuilt my supply, but he went on to nurse happily until 22 months of age!

My fourth baby has a slight tongue tie as well. But her tie hasn’t effected her nursing much.

As a Craniosacral Therapist that works with newborns I have worked on several tongue-tied infants with great success. Restrictions in the connective tissues of the face, neck, head and jaw can effect the latch. Restrictions of the tongue may be due to position of the baby at birth, handling of the baby’s head during birth or procedures done after birth (like deep suctioning). Sometimes just clipping the frenulum isn’t enough if there is trauma to the rest of the connective tissues.

Myofascial unwinding and Craniosacral Therapy is non-invasive and powerfully effective. I also work with the palate to return balance to cranials. I had one baby that literally let out a shout (before he would just “mew”) as I released his Hyoid bone (in the throat). It sounded like a shout of joy

I’ve always had a really tight tongue, although, as far as I know, I’m not ‘tongue tied’ (although I do have a little scar on my frenulum, but my mom says it was never clipped, wonder if it tore when I was young and ‘fixed’ itself). My first baby had a horrible latch, a really strong suck but a horrible latch, he NEVER stuck his tongue out of his month, we bf happily for 13 months and it was painful the whole time. I asked my ped doc if he was tongue tied and she said no, but I still wonder if he is tongue tied, at 18 months his tongue barely passes his lip when he sticks it out.

My firstborn, my dear daughter, was tongue tied. I didn’t even know what that was. They told me her latch was great, she’s gaining great, tons of wet diapers… Yet every time she nursed it hurt so bad I bit into my hand or dug my nails into the couch beside me in agony. My nipples were black and blue and bleeding. For MONTHS. So much for it only hurting the first few days or so. She clicked when she drank and sucked like a superpowered vaccuum cleaner and would bite down with her gums as she sucked- hence the constant bruising. I read somewhere that the tip of the tongue should be between the bottom lip and the nipple. Nope. Didn’t reach. But by the time I found anyone who could give me an answer other than, “Oh well if it hurts then her latch must be bad.” she was 5 months old, starting solids, and my nipples had gotten tough enough to just deal. I nursed her for 13 months. She never had a bit of trouble gaining because she wanted to nurse 24-7. It was her favorite thing to do in the whole wide world. And it hurt so bad! But I am super stubborn and had made up my mind to breastfeed for at least a year no matter the difficulty.

So yeah according to that doc, all the months of pain and agony and purple nipples were nothing? A figment of my imagination? :p How stupid. Nothing is the same for everyone. Just because in some cases tongue tie doesn’t cause problems nursing does NOT mean all tongue tied babies nurse problem-free.

I can’t see any reason not to clip it as soon as it is discovered! I know a lady whose son could hardly talk by age 2 or 3. They took him down to a doctor in Mexico (they live in TX very close to the border), and they discovered he was tongue tied. Clipping it made all the difference, and he was speaking volumes in a very short time. I can’t see why it would be any different for breastfeeding. But of course, I’m no doctor, so what is my opinion worth? Ack!

Here’s my experience. I was tongue-tied myself as an infant. I was also the only of my siblings to be breastfed and my mother reported it hurt for a good three months and then one day the pain was gone. By the time I was 2 or 3 years old I had to undergo general anesthesia to have my frenulum clipped because it was interfering with my speech (I couldn’t make the “L” sound which was a problem since my name begins with an “L”!)
Cut to 25 or so years later. I nursed my first child with the usual first time nursing difficulties but then had a great 2+ year run. My second child latched on after birth and didn’t let go for 2 years, and not one bit of pain either. I thought I had it all figured out! Then my third child came along. After the birth I couldn’t get him to latch on right away, I figured it was positioning because I was still greatly uncomfortable after giving birth. Even after getting myself set up in my favorite rocker I still couldn’t get him to latch. My midwife checked back frequently with me knowing we were having issues. I noticed right away that his tongue pulled in and was heart shaped. I called my pediatrician the next day. He’s a family practice doc and couldn’t get me in and also said he didn’t clip tongues. So I called the big peds practice in the area. They asked why they let him home from the hospital if he was having trouble nursing. I informed them that I had a homebirth (my 3rd) and their response was “so he hasn’t been seen by a doctor??” (Nevermind that midwives are trained to handle newborn care for the first 2 weeks). So they wouldn’t help me until I made an appointment to be seen my a doctor. I declined. They suggested seeing an ENT doctor. I found one in the area and called. When he finally called back, I was 2 sentences into explaining what I thought was the problem when he came out with this: “Oh mom. How can you be sure that that’s the problem. Babies don’t need their tongues to breastfeed. When you drink out of a straw do you use your whole tongue? Besides without a proper medical exam by a doctor how can we know that he doesn’t have something else wrong with him, like coanal atresia?” Well needless to say, I hung up the phone real fast with him. I was so spitting mad that I couldn’t tell him off! Nevermind the fact that I AM A MIDWIFE and know the difference between tongue tied and a coanal atresia! (He was just throwing out big medical words to show that he’s the doctor and I’m just the silly mother). All that and that doc didn’t even do frenulum clippings!!! He just wanted to give me his $.02!! My after the fact snippy comment to this jerk doc would have been, “Gee doc, the last time you sucked on a breast, did you use your whole tongue???”
Finally giving in and going to our family practice doc, he said that it wasn’t so bad and that it would stretch out with time. But he hasn’t latched on yet at almost 24 hours old!!! With noone to help me, I was forced to just make it work. With my milk IN and breasts hurting, I finally got him to latch on, but it was sketchy at best. It took all I had and every time he nursed for the first 3 months I had to use 2 hands and hold him in his latched on position or he would lose the latch and cause me great pain. Finally after about 3 months (the magic number apparently) I realized that I didn’t have to hold the latch for him anymore. Around 7 or so months one day I noticed that he was finally able to stick his tongue out all the way! And for 2 weeks that’s all he would do! It was like he was saying, “hey ma! Look what I can do now!” So it must have stretched out on it’s own like my peds said.
Only after the fact do I have people telling me that they know “such and such” doc who would clip frenulums right in the office. That would have been nice to know 9 months ago! But I was determined and not one bottle has been given to him. If given the option, I really would have had someone clip the frenulum. I think it would have made the first few months go a lot smoother. I’m also grateful for another lovely homebirth with very little (none actually) suctioning at birth. After reading one of the comments above, I’m glad he didn’t have any other connective tissue damage which could have made the situation worse!
I hope my story helps someone out there. Cuz there are a lot of docs who, being men, have no concept of breastfeeding pain! If it hurts and the latch is a good one, seek additional help. Yes, tight frenulums are genetic! (Which is what I was trying to tell that ENT doc when he cut in to condescend me!) Good luck!

I just came across this website trying to find information on the likely hood of a sibling being tongue tied as well. I can’t believe that statement came from a ped. Anyway, my experience breastfeeding ou first son was VERY painful and he had difficulty latching. I remember the first day in the hospital, the lactation consultant told me, “don’t let anyone tell you that your baby is tongue tied just because he’s having trouble latching”. I really had no idea what that meant. By the time we were released, he was nursing OK, but it was still very painful for me and I just figured that it was normal. This went on for 2 months! He was gaining weight steadily but I think it was due to the fact that I would let him nurse forever and whenever. My mom was the one that suggested that he was tongue tied due to his tongue being heart shaped. After doing my own research, I took him to his ped and she was able to diagnose it as, you guessed it, being tongue tied! She clipped it right then and there. Oh my gosh! What a difference in the breastfeeding!

My 2nd was tongue tied. They basically told me unless she started to lose weight they wouldn’t do anything about it. So instead, she gained very slowly. It was really difficult and my nipples were so sore and cracked because she just couldn’t latch properly.

It did eventually stretch out – by about 6 months – and now she has a perfectly normal tongue and frenulum.