Tongue Tied

Hi S.
My son was tongue tied as well. The doctor did not clip his tongue till he was over a year old. My son's was from the tip of the tongue to the top of the gumms. I do know that some are clipped right after birth. I guess it depends on the doctor. I would not worry about it.

D.

S.,

My son was born tongue tied as well!! He was so bad that we had to take him to an ENT doc and he said that we would have to wait until he was 6 months and do it in the hospital under anesthesia! This was when he was around a month old. So we waited until he was 6 months, took him back to the ENT and was expecting to schedule a surgery. Good news...the skin had thinned out enough to where he just clipped it in the office THAT SAME DAY and we left. It was VERY traumatic for me, but he took it very well. I thought there was a lot of bleeding, but the doctor said it was normal. There was about 5 minutes of love and cuddles when it was over and he was over it!! Mommy cried just as much as he did if not more!!! My advice is to get it done ASAP. Take him to an ENT and have it done ASAP! It will be way more traumatic for your child if you wait until he/she is older and will remember it. My son was fine 10 minutes after it was over. He even had a bottle!! He will never remember it! My husband was also born tongue tied. His mom did wait until he was older and he remembers having his tongue clipped. In his words "it hurt and it sucked". Hope this helps!! If you need to talk more you can e-mail me personally at ____@____.com

Oh, if you are in the Lexington area, I highly recommend Dr. Keith Alexander at Kentucky ENT!!! He also put ear tubes in my son's ears when he was 7 months. He is a wonderful doctor!

S.,

I am not sure if clipping can only be done when they are first born but I do work in an ear nose and throat physician facility and we have seen babies a few weeks old for treatment. If you are concerned and unsure if you are okay with waiting I would advise you to make an appointment with an ENT physician, I would be happy to refer you to a few in the Columbus area, you could see what their opinion would be, it might be the same as the pediatrician or may be different. I would hate to wait and see if it is affecting speech as then your child may have to also go through speech therapy for articulation errors that may not have been a problem. Let me know if you would like a referral.

-E.

My daughter was a bit tounge tied at birth as well and was having trouble feeding, so our doctor on our way home from hospital after being born, cut the connection thingamajig. It will be awhile before she is able to talk, and it is a minimal amount of pain, and blood, so why NOT do it now? If you feel it is a problem, I would talk to him about doing it now....will be easier in the long run!!! I do know of a few adults who live and are tongue tied, their speech is altered and does not sound "normal". Hope this gives you some ideas and I hope your doctor is open for talk.

My son is tongue tied as well and his pediatrician said it was nothing to worry about!

Hi S.! I, too, thought that when a child is really tounge tied, that they clip it pretty early on. I wasn't technically tounge tied, but that 'connective thingy' below my tounge was closer than what I thought should be normal. I felt that it interfered with my speech some, and I definately couldn't stick my tounge out much beyond my lips. When I was 18 or so, I had mine clipped at the same time that I had my wisdom teeth pulled, and I'm so glad that I did! It feels so much better, and I can actually stick my tounge out, which is great now that I'm married (haha - kidding ;0)
Not sure that that helps you at all, but I would consider having another Dr. take a look to see if this is something that should be done early. I was told that if my speech had been affected by the tied thingy, that it would take speech therapy to fix it, after I had it clipped...so why wait for your daughter to actually have speech problems?
Blessings,
Renee

Hi S....
Two of my four children have been tongue tied (its actually pretty common). They've both had their tongues clipped (my pediatrician did one when our son was about 6 months old and my midwife did our other son a couple days after he was born). Our third son has only a slightly tied tongue and we have just left his alone. I thought it would be horrible to have it clipped, but it wasn't bad at all. The baby hated having it's tongue held to be clipped more than having it clipped. It only bled a drop or two of blood and was fine. Some people told us that it would have to be done in a hospital under a local anesthetic by an ear,nose and throat doctor, but our ped and my midwife were happy to do it for us. If you do decide to do it, I would do it now while she won't remember it. It will only be more traumatic (for you and her!) the longer you wait. Feel free to contact me if I can help you any more.

Hi S.,
My husband actually is tongue-tied. His dentist has offered to clip it, but it's never been an issue. His speech is perfect, he's a great kisser, etc. The only "problem" is that he can't stick his tongue out far (and it goes into a heart-shape when he sticks his tongue out).
My advice is if it's not hurting her nursing/bottle feeding, then wait to see if it impairs her speech...why have unnecessary pain if you don't need too.
Good Luck!

My twin son had this problem. I took him to an ENT doctor in N Olmsted, Dr Trott- he was fabulous, and he snipped it right there in the office. He said it was better to do it when they are young. So I had it done and my son is 2 now and it talking wondefully.

Don't worry!

I'm tongue tied and though I have a VERY SLIGHT LISP it's nothing that anyone other than myself has ever noticed. I always wanted my tongue clipped but drs (at least the ones around here) don't do that anymore. And perhaps for good reason - I had it clipped three years ago and since then I've has orthodontic problems for my tongue pushing my teeth outwards in my sleep. Also, my son is tongue tied and other than the inability to nurse, he's never had a problem. No lisp, no inability to pronounce words - tho he does seem to have an inability to sit still (but he's a boy!)....

Don't worry about it. She's fine. and btw, it HURTS to have your tongue clipped....

Have a blessed day!

My 4 month old has the same thing and our doctor gave us the same advice. He told us if became a problem his dentist could take care of it. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law also had it. Neither of them had or have any problems. However my MIL's actually ripped but it didn't cause her any pain.

I was born with this condition.. of course I never saw it as a "condition" or "problem".. I do not have any speach problems nor did I growing up. The only "issue" I have is that I can not stick my tongue out very far. :-p

Hi S.,

My son too was born with this condition. Our ear, nose and throat doctor advised us to wait until he started to talk to see if made a difference because sometimes it is not necessary to have that piece clipped. So short story is that we had it clipped when he was over a year old and he did fine with the surgery and is fine now, talking up a storm. You can't even tell. I had never heard of tongue tie until my son. I'm glad to know there are others. Good luck with whatever you decide.

My friends son is almost 2 and his tongue is tied. The doctors don't seem to be to concerned. I'm pretty sure they have told her the same thing your doctor told you, that if it ever affected his speech, they would do something then. He speaks fine and doesn't have any problems there. Then only thing is that my friend swears that it causes him to gag easily so she has to give him very small bites. (I'm really not sure if the two are actually connected though).

hi S....
My 18 mo old daughter was tongue tied and her pediatrician clipped it when she was 4 days old. It was quick and no big deal. They did it right there in the office. I think the school of thought is to fix the problem early so no problems arise with speech or feedings, rather than waiting until they do and then treating it. Might as well do it while they're young and don't know it's happening.
For me, there was no option. We had to clip her tongue, since she could barely open her mouth. It made feeding painful for me and frustrating for her. Once it was clipped, everything was fine. I think it depends on the doctor, but I encourage you to fix it now. Don't wait until there's a problem.

I have a couple of friends who have children that were tongue tied. One of them had it clipped at a few days and the other waited until the child was about 2 or 3. The parents that waited until there child was older regretted waiting, mostly because the child will remember having it done, at least for a little while. It did affect the childs speech, that is why they decided to have it done.
Good Luck!

here is a website to check out on this topic.
http://www.breastfeedingbasics.com/html/tonguetie.shtml

my friends brother had a tied tongue, and it has never caused him any physical problems-he is 30 yrs old now. He is self conscience about it, though.

Our son was born tongue tied. He had some problems with sucking so we had it clipped when he was 4 weeks old. We took him to a pediatic dentist. He was a really nice older guy. Not sure where your from. The denist is Dr. Stephen Pero he's located in Maumee, Ohio by St. Lukes Hospital. Phone is ###-###-####. The total cost is $150.00 that covers everything even the follow-up. Which I thought was very reasonable, since our dental insurance wouldn't pay for it. Hope this is helpful.

Dear S. M,

My son is going to be 7 months on the 11th and he had "tied tongue" also. My doctor wasn't too worried about it but she said if I wanted to get it done do it before he got any teeth (after they get teeth they have to be put under for the procedure) so I decided to get it done he was about 5 months and I went to a Dr. John Crowe at Akron Childrens hospital and he just clipped his toungue w/ scissors while I was in the room. My son cried a little but I had a bottle ready for him and just stuck it in his mouth and he was fine. And he's been fine ever since and I don't regrete getting it done and I'm sure he'll never remember it:)