My Son Is Tongue Tied and Will Need Surgery

My 5 yo is tongue tied- her ped didn't think she needed it clipped...as an infant she had trouble eating, though, I wish the hospital had clipped i when she was born.

My sisters son had the same thing, he had it at like the same age, he did great, the pain was minimal and yes the speach takes a minutebut gets better! Good luck

I have two nephews (brothers) that were both born tounge tied and they both came through just fine. Both surgeries were even out-paitent and my sister in law said that they were pretty much back to normal by the next day (depending on the time of day that the procedure was done). I know that it didn't hinder them any and the younger of the two boys is a fraternal twin and he talked before his twin sister. Good luck and I am sure that everything will be just fine.

My middle daughter was a little tongue-tied at birth. My mid-wife snipped her tongue right after she was born. She didn't even cry. I immediately noticed a difference in her nursing abilities. Depending on the severity of the situation, I don't think it will take too long to recover. Good luck!

One of my sons had it done at 3 months. It's really no big deal. Give him some tylenol beforehand, and right after they clip it, let him nurse/give him a bottle. My doctor actually let me hold him while they did it. I will tell you it was one of the best decisions we ever made! He couldn't nurse well or take a bottle before. I am tongue-tied myself, although it's not severe, and I was never clipped. It doesn't cause a huge problem in my every day life, but I wish I had been clipped!

Is there a reason they are waiting to do the procedure? All my kids were 6 weeks old when it happened. We went to the ENT's office and it was a quick procedure. I brought their pacifiers and they were using it right after and they encouraged me to breast feed soon after. The sooner they used their tongue, the faster the healing. I think the procedure took less than 10 min.? It was so quick and they bring you in as soon as they do it so you can soothe your child. It is so quick they won't remember. Maybe you can get it done sooner... It definitely helps with eating and their speech later on. You'll be glad you did it. Good luck!

I forget what the actual procedure was called, but my son was tongue tied also at birth. BUT his was tied at the tip of his tongue and his tongue was actually starting to split up the "center line of your tongue". He had the surgery at about 9-10 months old. By a doctor at TCH.

The surgery lasted only about 20-30 minutes. Then they put him in recovery. We got to see him immediately. The doctors told us his tongue would be sore for a while, not to expect him to stick his tongue out.

They cut his tongue "clip" and reattached it at the back of his tongue where it's supposed to be.

As soon as we got in the recovery room, he tried sticking his tongue out, then cried, then stuck his tongue out again. Repeatedly. (His cousin 7 months younger stuck his tongue out all the time and he couldnt so he was mimicking him.) His speech was slighlty affected around 2 years old while he was trying to learn to talk. We worked with him the best we could. We NEVER baby talked to him, the doctor said thats the thing we DID NOT want to do since his surgery.

We never put him in speech therapy and he talks just fine now at 10 years old. He has never showed any surgery "regrets". And is completely fine now.

Good Luck!

Do it! Do it! Do it! We knew my son was tounge tied before we left the hospital when he was born. We were going to have it clipped when he was a week old but apparently it was so thick that they needed to put him under for the operation. I wasn't willing to do that with a newborn. So....we waited. It has affected his speech. He has a fantastic vocabulary but struggles with touching the roof of his mouth with his tongue. We finally decided to go through with it this past January. He was 3 yrs, 4 months old. I wish we had of done it a long time ago because it's been 3 months since the procedure and he still hasn't learned how to move his tongue that way. I hope he figures it out and we don't have to go through speech therapy. The procedure causes them very little discomfort. My son ate breakfast and had orange juice within an hour of the procedure. He complained of a little stinging but I never even had to give him pain killers. The most nerve wracking part of the experience is having to put them under general anesthesia. My advice is to have the procedure done at Strictly Pediatrics next to the Dell Children's Hospital. They deal ONLY with children so the chance of anesthesia issues are minimal. We used Dr. Nowlin with Austin ENT. He's truly wonderful! Can't say good enough things about him. He also put tubes in our daughter's ears at 2 months. I was really worried about her being so young under anesthesia but the staff at Strictly Pediatrics was great! Good luck and don't stress about this one too much. It is worth it. Oh! One last thought!!! My girlfriend had her son's fenulum clipped last month (18 month old boy). If you are nursing, be prepared for the posibility of him rejecting the breast. This is what happened to her. Fortunately, he was older and it wasn't a big deal for him to quit. She just wasn't mentally prepared to stop that very day. He is eating MUCH better! Sorry for the novel...take care.

My brother was tongue tied until he was 6 weeks old. My mother had it clipped right there in the office. He has never had any speech problems. His daughter had the same thing. She had her tongue clipped at about 3 weeks old in the office. As far as pain goes, she was more upset that she was awakened then she was that they clipped her tongue. There was about one drop of blood then they put her pacifier in her mouth and the sucking action made the bleeding stop. She use to struggle and take over an hour for each feeding then be hungry within an hour or so. The doctor said that was because she wasn't getting enough due to her tongue. She is a great eater now and no longer struggles. She is a sweet little chubby baby now at 2 months old. Here is a website for more information on the topic...
http://www.storknet.com/cubbies/breast/AS-tonguetied.htm

I haven't experienced it, but my friend's son had it & had to have surgery. The pros didn't figure out what the problem was until he was 3yrs. I don't know about the pain, but I do know that she said he improved dramaticaly after with speach & eating.

My daughter was tongue tied. We did not have to have a major surgery or anything. We went to the Drs office and he gave it a clip and that was all there was to it. She ate whatever she felt like eating and did not seem to have any pain. She is 16 now and has no problems.

Both my children were born with their tongue tied, my son had surgery at 2yrs old and healing time was quick for him, although I remember the doctor saying it might be a day or two he never complained I just didn't give him any food with acid base( i.e. tomato sauce, orange juice.)As far as his speech that was a much longer process (2 to 3 years) but he was pretty old when they did the surgery. He is now 14 and you could never tell by his speech or in anyway he had to have his tongue clipped. My daughter on the other hand I had them clip her tongue when she was 3 days old and it did not require surgery, just an office visit. And it healed very quickly, other than the when they clipped it, she seem to have no pain. It did not affect her eating at all. And because she was so young she never had speech problems. Just an FYI if or when you have any more children they are just as likely to have their tongue tied as well. The pediatrician almost always likes the wait and see approach(lets see if it causes eating or speech problems) but if you insist on seeing an ear, nose, throat specialist they will clip it right away like they did for my daughter and then you can avoid surgery and the possible speech problems.

A.,
I am a surgical nurse and work with peds this is a very simple surgery very quick and you will be very pleased with the outcome. Pain afterward not bad nothing a little tynenol cant cure he may droll for a few days nothing to worry about! Good Luck L.

Our Son was tongue tied at birth as well. Our ENT doctor at Austin Ear, Nose & Throat. Dr. Kahn did it in the office during a visit. It took all of about 5 minutes. It took longer to numb that little flat of skin than it did to cut it. It was inexpensive and it wasn't a surgery. It was great, I was so perturbed by the pedi that said we would have to wait until he was older to do it and I just kinda find out things for my self and I called my friend who works at the ENTs and she got me in the next day.. Thank God for them! I suggest you give a call to Doc. Kahn and get your son in soon since he is only 4 mos,.
Hope that helps
J.

Hi,
I haven't had this experience with my own kids, but taught a little boy who did at 6 years old. He was back at school the next day and his speech improved greatly. Good luck!

My son was tongue tied, and we had it clipped when he was only a couple of weeks old. It wasn't a big deal at all. They just numbed his tongue and clipped it right in the office. Nursing was instantly easier. My husband didn't have his clipped until he was 5, and he still remembers it. He said it was pretty traumatic. So I would definitely do it early when it's not a big deal and they won't remember it.

my son had the same thing only we did not catch it until he was 8 years old. (he is 15 now) he went through the surgery with no problems and never complanined about any pain afterwards. he never had any speech problems before or after. he did say that it felt "weird" to him after he had the surgery because he had so much more movement to his tongue. he was excited that he could actually stick out his tongue. :)i hope this eases your mind a little. it is always scary when your children have to have surgery. good luck!

Our first was tongue tied, we did the surgery at a year of age. He was already talking quite a bit at that point and didn't seem to be having any troubble it was just something my husband wanted done so we did it and it was a non event. The actual surgery takes about five minutes and then they hold you in recovery for just a bit to make sure that they come out of the drugs fine. I never like having to put my kids under but other than that like I said TOTAL non event.

I have a friend and she had to have her tongue clipped at the bottom every few months when we were little. I never heard her complain about how painful it was but I remember her saying her mouth was sore every once in a while after having it done. She was able to eat normal stuff, her talking was good, (you could tell when she needed her tongue clipped again because she would start to slur alittle bit), it was never noticed by people that didnt see her on a day to day basis.

For how young your little man is Im sure it will hurt alittle but it will help him in the long run. look at it this way...your baby is sick and needs to get a shot. shots hurt but it is needed....he gets his shot and feels better after a while. Its the same concept but it will be in the mouth, you may ask the doctor if you can help with the discomfort with ice cream or popcicles along with baby pain relivers. After a while Im sure you will see that it has helped with his speech and with his eating. This may make it easier for him to eat.

I wish you all the luck in the world.

My daughter is tongue tied and our pediatrician wanted to wait and see if it was affecting her speech later. I didn't have painful nursing though....

My daugher born with tongue tied. She had very simple and quick clip in order to free her tongue tied when she was 3 weeks old. Yes, she had brief pain but she was fine afterwards. My opinion is to have your son to be done as soon as he can instead of at 6 months. I wouldn't want to wait too long because he needs his tongue movements for drink bottle, teething, etc...

Good luck!!!!

My sister had this procedure when she was older than this and she just wouldn't talk, however she did talk fine after she completely healed.

Almost all of my kids where tongue tied at first it was scary to think that they will need surgery but it's not real surgery they had us hold the baby and just clip it.It heals fast and eating will improve

K. mommie of 6

I am a midwife and have seen several of these. The clipping of the frenulum is very simple and straightforward. I wouldnt worry about it to much. He will be fine and his speech teeth etc will be better by having the surgery. Did you breastfeed successfully?

My twin boys were both tongue-tied and couldn't breastfeed. Our ENT said we could wait and see if speech problems developed (since they both bottle-fed well and were gaining weight) or we could opt for surgery the following spring (after cold and flu season).

An important note - only children 3 months and younger can have their frenulum "clipped" without anesthesia by a midwife or pediatrician. After that, there is too much bleeding and they require stitches, thus requiring anesthesia. I know this becuase my boys were 3 1/2 months old when they received their tongue-tie diagnosis from their pediatrician.

The boys suffered from chronic ear infections and both had to get ear tubes. Since they were having surgery anyway, we asked the ENT to perform the frenulectomy as well. It was the best decision we ever made!! They both recovered within a day or so, and we only had to use pain medication a few times. It also had absolutely no impact on their appetites...they continued to eat like little horses, both from the bottle and solid foods. At 26 months (one year after surgery) their verbal development has been amazing, and is even a little ahead of other kids their age.

I know it's a scary proposition for your little one to undergo surgery, but I would encourage you to do it sooner rather than later. Best of luck!

Well i had personal expeirence with this i was born tongue tied and my mom chose not 2 get it clipped so i had 2 do it when i was 24 and it was quick and kinda hurt and he said that when they do babys cuz it doesnt realy affect them as much!!

Hi A.,
My 4 1/2 yr old little boy has a tight frenum, his doctor said since it did not interfer with his eating to wait and see if he adapts with his speech, if not we could clip it later. Our daughter that is 2 1/2 yrs old has her frenum clipped in the doctors office at 2 weeks. We has difficulty with nursing with her. No anthesia needed, she did not cry. No problems with eating right after, except she started sticking her tongue out.

My nephew was tongue tied, and the surgery wasn't really a big deal. He ate better (slept better because he had a full tummy), and didn't have any difficulties learning to talk. I'm sure that you will hear from someone with personal experience, but thought that I'd offer what I knew all the same.

Get it done sooner than later. First of all, your son won't remember it. Second, I just talked to my friend whose son had the surgery, but they had waited. She said that he had a speech impediment and they didn't even know that he was tongue-tied. So she thought that his speech was just one of those cute ways kids talk. After the surgery (which was not a big deal she said) he was old enough to know and said to her Mommy, I can say it right now! He had always known that he wasn't saying things the right way, he just couldn't do anything about it. Good luck.

2 out of my 5 kids were tongue tied. My oldest son was 17 mos when Igot his clipped. He cld not stick his tongue out at all; it curled under. He immediately could make more sounds and could eat normally immediately. When I nursed him, it always felt like he was biting me b/c of his tongue tie.

My younger son was a few hours old when I noticed he was tongue tied. But the ENT said he had to be 6 wks old before he cld do the procedure.

The ENT I used did not do office procedures and it was considered a major surgery. They were both given anesthesia and the procedure only took 4 minutes to complete. The hard part was waiting for the anesthesia to wear off! They were both fine after it was over.

Good luck,
M.
Mom to 5 Wonderful Kids
www.4MyChildrenSake.com

What kind of surgery is he having? If a Dentist is doing it, He will not have much pain. Tylenol will take care of any discomfort. It should heal 3-4 days.
At Least the kind of frenulenectomy we do at the Dental office is like that.
I work for a Dentist.
If you ask a Dentist to look at it you would probaly need to consult a Pedodontist , because of his age.
Dentist usually perform on children and adults with a laser or electrosurge which cuts and cauterizes at the same time.

My son was born with his tongue tied too. He also had the surgery and it was minimal pain and discomfort for about a day or two. He is now 13 yrs old and no speech or eating or anykind of problems whatsoever. Good luck and gods blessing to you and your family.

My son was tongue tied and we didn't know it. I was nursing, he was my third and I could not understand why I was having so much pain and problems. We went to our midwife for our 6-week appointment and she looked at him and said he was tongue-tied. I had no idea what she was talking about. She said it was no big deal and got some sterile medical scissors and snipped the little piece of skin under his just a little. It bled only a little and afterwards nursing felt so much better and we both healed up and continued to nurse for over a year. He is now 2 and is starting to talk with no problems.

my first was tongue tied, we had his surgery done at 2 months. he did great. my second was also, we had him clipped at the ent office at 3 weeks.

their tongues were very different, some need general anesthesia and the whole shebang, some only need a little topical anesthetic and a snip.

Both recovered within 24 hours, and are doing great.

Blessings to you

I know someone who was tongue tied as an infant & he came out of it just fine, no problems as far as I know. That was yrs ago so that should tell you that although this may not be a common thing to happen, it can be dealt with safely. Just talk to your child's doctor & ask if he/she has any recommendations on who can do the procedure then talk with the recommended doctor about what to expect afterwards.

Yes, my son had it, its not a surgery, a midwife got pair of scissors and clipped the thing under his tounge that holds it down...I was in the room holding him. There was no pain medicine, no recovery time...he was just fixed after that. I have to say it was no big deal.

Hi my name is K., MY son and daughter both had to have this done and they both did great! My daughter was like your son only 6 mo. She was having another surgery done and the doctor and I discussed her being tongue tied, he told me he would fix that while he had her under an she would not have any problems, and he was right she ate and nursed with no complaints. My son had his done by an oral surgen when he was 7 yrs old. He did great as well he was eating normal that very night.

My son had his tongue clipped last summer. It is a pretty simple procedure and they seem to heal pretty fast. With him being so young he should take it pretty well. I would suggest keeping some childrens orajel on hand and you can put some on it to help numb the pain. We did this with my son and it seemed to help him. He was 4 when he had it done and he took it pretty good. Yes it has improved his speech to an extent. Since he was alot older when he had the procedure done it is taking him longer to use his tongue correctly. He has been in speech therapy since before the age of 2 and wasn't having very much progress. As soon as we had his tongue clipped he started saying some of the sounds that he wasn't before. If you have any questions or just want to talk feel free t contact me.

I echo some of the same advice. My son was tongue tied at birth and his was clipped at 11 weeks, which was way late in my opinion. We had a great deal of trouble with nursing since he couldn't hold suction to my nipple which caused me a lot of pain and him to vomit from swallowing air. He also had to have the other 2 frenulums clipped, one that connects upper lip to gum line and one that connects lower lip to gum line. These he had done as a young boy at the dentist and now that he is older he will be able to gt braces. Give your son a little pain reliver about 30 minutes after the procedure and nurse him (if your are) as soon as possible after. It's going to be nerve wracking for you but I'm certain he will be fine when it is all said & done. Praying for you!
C.