Tight Frenulum

Updated on August 17, 2008
E.C. asks from Rockwall, TX
6 answers

I have a one month old baby girl and she was diagnosed with a tight frenulum at birth. It has caused some struggles with breastfeeding; however, is gaining weight very nicely. The suggestion from the pediatrians and lactation consultant are to wait and see what happens before making a decision to clip the piece of skin holding the tongue. Has anyone had a child with a tight frenulum? I am curious to get other parent opinions on clipping. My understanding is that there could be some speech issues later on; however, we will not know until around 18 months old. I have a friend that is 35 years old with a tight frenulum - she has not had any issues.

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So What Happened?

We decided to clip this after 6 months; but before she turns a year. We consulted an ENT regarding this issue. I really appreciate all of your advice. It really helped me to make the decsion to see an ENT. Additionally, gave me a little more confidence that this is more common than I thought.

More Answers

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P.H.

answers from Dallas on

My son had this too, and yes, I think it complicated breastfeeding. He could not stick his tongue out of his mouth until he was at least a year old. Now he is 3 and it worked itself out. No evidence that he even had this done. I would not have it clipped. My pediatrician also did not recommend this procedure at such a young age.

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S.C.

answers from Dallas on

My son has this. My husband also has this. He wishes he had had it clipped when he was younger. It didn't cause any problems for him...he just can't stick his toungue out. My son is 17 mos. and I have a feeling it is causing some problems with eating and speaking. He hasn't started saying any real words yet...he babbles all the time but no real words. He also has a texture issue with foods. We had problems in the beginning with breast feeding, too. But he is a chunky monkey so it obviously didn't really affect him too much. But I will be discussing this with the pediatrician at his 18 mos. visit. My sister is a speech pathologist and she said it is very likely that it is causing speech delay and texture issues. If I were you, I would just go and have it clipped. I wish I had my son's clipped at the hospital before I brought him home.

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K.H.

answers from Dallas on

I suggest you talk with your dentist as the tongue is used to clean your teeth and reduce the bacteria. I had a tight frenulum and it did cause speech problems for me. I had it clipped as an adult at the suggestion of my dentist.

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E.N.

answers from Dallas on

Both of my boys had the same problem. With my first, the only way he could latch on for breastfeeding was with a nipple shield ... this lasted for 4 months and was a nightmare for me. The second child muscled through it and after several weeks could latch on by himself. None of the pediatricians we were seeing would cut it even with me explaining to them that this was a genetic thing that occurred in all 9 kids in my family and all of us had it cut during infancy with no issues. My sister's son who also had the problem just had it cut at 8 yrs old because of speech problems. My suggestion is to have it cut now if your docs will do it!

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S.B.

answers from Dallas on

My sister in law had this same problem when she was born. Her parents clipped it and remembers it to be painful and grew back together as well. Course she was an older child when it was done. This was many years ago and am sure that there are different techniques. She did have a speech problem but quickly grew out of it. She does not have any problems as an adult. Just FYI. (maybe their mistake was not doing it as an infant? I know as a parent myself that providing the best healthcare as possible is our goal.

Signed - Not alot of help.

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S.M.

answers from Dallas on

Erica - My son had this condition as well and had a lot of trouble breastfeeding at the beginning. However, we had the skin under his tongue clipped when he was 5 days old (he is 9 months now). It made an immediate difference and he gained 9 oz in 2 days! Our in home sitter watches a child who is 3 years old and he just had his clipped because he was having speech problems like you mentioned and it is much harder for him now because he is having to relearn how to say most words. I think if you are going to do it you should do it now. Our son did fine with the procedure and it took about 5 minutes. It was much harder on me than it was on him. :)

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