Hi, I have 13 day old baby who was born tongue tied, I wanted it to be cut at birth but they would not do it and said they would only do it if the baby had a problem feeding, which he does not. However, I have since been told by midwife that he could have a speech problem if it is not cut, and that it is best done now rather than later as it is a simple procedure now but would be much more complicated if done when he is older. so obviously i am very concerned and keen for him to have it cut!!! but so far it is proving difficult to get anyone to do anything about it!!! any advice??

hi hun i would be persistent, will the mw refer you? and also with your doctor again i would get an appiontment an perster your gp, will your gp refer you to the hospital or can your gp 'clip' your babies tongue?
i think with some doctors/consultants an specialists it is a case of pestering them before they actually do something, thats my experiance anyway lol, also could it be done privatly?
joanne x

my lo is tounge tied and I asked for a refferal from the Dr. We saw the specialist who said that there are only about 4 Dr's nationwide that will snip when the baby is born. It is ultimatley your choice if you want to get it clipped but your baby will have to go under. Views on it hindering speech development change over the years. We have decided to wait because our lad's tounge tie is moderate and we have noticed it loosen (he's now 15months). Breast feeding is supposed to help loosen it. Ask for the referral and then make your minds up but don't worry.

Usually they fix themselves. Once the child is old enough there are exercises you can do to help it, this usually happens along side when they are ready to talk too so it shouldn't hold them up too much! If you feel really strongly about getting it sorted keep asking and making sure it gets dealt with- its 100% your decision!

Hi, my friends baby daughter was born tounge tied, and she recently had it cut aged 3 1/2. We read that it is a much easier procedure before the baby is one. My advice would be to presist in insisting that your baby can have the op, if it done sooner then it bites any speech problems and feeding problems before they even start. Keep on at your doctor/midwife. I will recommend my friend to this site too and read your post as someone who has been through it.
Hope you get some where.
x

hey,

it can cause speech problems but more in clarity of child's speech rather than speech delay from my experiece and it can be corrected with support and excercises once it has been snipped

hi. my daughter ruby is now 2 and has the same thing. i didnt know to ask for them to check for it when she was born and when she was a few days old she was screaming so much because she couldnt latch on to me. my midwife advised me to put her on to a bottle which i did and she was then fine. but i can say she doesnt have any problems with her speech and is happy so if its not a problem with feeding then id say leave it. maybe a few kids have problems with speech because of this but i think its quite rare. but if you do decide to do it, do it when your baby is too young to remember.

Hi, my nephew was tongue-tied and it wasn't even noticed until he was a bit older and he was talking with a lisp which he couldn't seem to get rid of. He had it snipped when he was about 6 or 7 - he's now 10 and still has a bit of a lisp, but has had no ill effects and it's never bothered him. Obviously, since he was a bit older, it had to be explained to him and he had to be prepared for it, but I'm not aware of it being a complicated procedure, and he didn't have to stay in hospital or anything.

hi ya my husband is tongue tied and his mum and dad didnt get it cut he is fine . and when our son was born 16 months ago he had tongue tie to i wanted it cu but his mun and other people said no as it can cause problems so im not sure wot to do either really

my little boy is tongue tied to and they also said to me that they will onlt cut it when he is older or if he cant feed. iam not able to feed myself but he now takes a bottle well iam hoping he grows out of it

MY LITTLE BOY WHO IS NOW 2 WAS BORN WITH A TONGUE TIE AND HE HAS NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEMS FEEDING OR TALKING AND MY NEICE ALSO HAS QUITE A BAD TONGUE TIE HER SPPECH IS FANTASTIC AND THE ONLY PROBLEM SHE HAS IS MOVING FOOD ROUND HER MOUTH HOWEVER IF YOUR WORRIED THEN INSIST ON WHAT YOU FEEL IS RIGHT AFTER ALL MUM KNOWS BEST.

Hi, I work in an oral surgery department, and we do treat tongue tied babies, but i would say if your baby is feeding well then you are unlikely to have problems with speech in the future. If you are concerned then make an appointment with your doctor, who should be able to refer you to whoever treats tongue tied babies in your area for a consultation, and then you can ask as many questions as you like and maybe put your mind at rest a little! If you really want it treated, you will have to be persistent, as they are usually very reluctant to treat babies who arent having any problems.
Hope this helps!

Hi, my little boy was born with tongue tie too - he is 18 months now. We had his tie snipped when he was about 5 weeks old. He was having problems feeding and wasn't putting enough weight on, he only had problem breast feeding though, no probs with a bottle.

I was so nervous about him having it done, got myself in a right state, but on the day it was done, he fell asleep whilst we were waiting and didn't even wake up when it was actually snipped!!! No blood or anything.

My husband was also born with tongue tie but didn't have it snipped, and his speech is fine.

Hope that helps

my little girl was tongue tied. she lost alot of weight, bf was really sore. a mw refered ger at a week old. it was such a tiny procedure i dont know why they didnt do it at birth. i dont see any point in taking a risk with poor feeding and speech later in life. keep at the mw about refering you, at least see a specialist for their opinion.

my step daughter is tongue tied she is 8 and it was only picked up by me last year so it has never effected her at all and noone had noticed!

My LO had the same thing, I had a real problem feeding him from the start though, but the hospital and m/w's didnt pick up on it, i saw a BF counsellor and she didnt either, we then took to him to the chiropractor (he came out vontouse and had a crick in his neck) and the chrio picked up on it. This was when he was about 2 weeks old, I saw my HV the next day and she called salisbury hospital there and then and we got an appointment 2 days later to see a tongue tie specialist - they say its better to have it snipped as early as possible so we decided to get it done, its a really simple procedure and caused JJ no stess at all - he's great now. At the end of the day, its up to you,but I would have a word with your HV (i know some are as useful as a chocolate fire guard!) but they might be able to get somewhere...

My lo was born with a tongue-tie. We had it cut when he was 10 days old. It was hindering his feeding, but only slightly. We were keen to have it cut and so were persistant - it worked! My mw said that it can impede speech (Ethan's was tethered right to the end of his tongue). Her children had been born with them too, so she 'pushed' the hospital with us to get it sorted.

Floopy & Ethan
x

I was tongue tied, not that it was picked up until i went to see a doctor about removing my wisdom teeth (i was 23/24 at the time!!)

He offered to cut it when removing my teeth cos i would be under general anetsic (sp) anyway so i thought why not. it has never hindered me except i couldn't stick my tongue out at my lil bro!!!

tbh i wish i hadn't bothered now!!! it was more painful recovery wise than my 3 wisdom teeth being removed. i have no more movement really than i had cos the muscles are too weak.

it was one of the first things i asked them to check if chloe had a tongue tie as it can be heirdtary. she didn't but if she did then i would want it cut when a baby and not older as she will not remember it from being a baby but recovery as an adult is far worse.

thta' just my personal opinion. keep pressing for it if it's what you want.

Lara xx

Hi, my son who is now 5 was tongue tied! He had a fork tongue and there was no space between under the tongue and the bottom of his mouth - i could not breast feed him because he could not latch on properly... The doctor advised that the tongue can stretch through feeding from a bottle and he was left tongue tied until he March 2005 when then finally divided it - he hasn't got any speech problems and to be honest didn't have any problems before the division - I was told when in was done that because the op itself takes literally 5 minutes it is safer to carry out when the child is between 18 month and 5 years due to the anaesthetic!!! He was only asleep for 45 minutes woke up and started talking adn eating as if nothing had happened - he had no pain and has not shut up since!!!

A friend of my mam had a son who was tongue tied also and his tongue stretched and when he lost his two front milk teeth the problem rectified itself as the skin tore naturally!!!

I really wouldn't be overly concerned just yet - i know it's not nice cos it's your baby, but do you really want your baby to go through anaesthetic so young for a quick snip?

It may rectify itself or you may have the op done when your baby is older....

I know when you have a new baby nothing can ease any fears you have but please try not to worry too much and congrats on your baby
xx