Did you have your son circumcised? I feel that that is a barbaric procedure. It is a custom with the same as baby boys have blue items and baby girls have pink. There is no medical reason for a circumcision, it is a very painful experience for a baby boy yet they are done every day all over the world.
On the other hand having your daughter's tongue clipped will allow her to speak more clearly and who knows what else. The tongue is used for chewing and swallowing as well as speach. Since this is the only way you have ever known your daughter you may not be aware of all the ways she is effected by the fact that her tongue is tied. I would get it done as soon as possible.
Holly like you our family is conflicted with this subject. Myself and our 4 year daughter are tongue tied. Our 4 yr. old does not have a speech problem but our dentist and Ear Nose and Throat doc have both said to have it done. We also said no. I have made it through to adulthood without problems . My daughter and I are the family joke because everyone else can touch their noses with their tongues. On the flip side I worked as a dental assistant for many years and can tell you it is an easy procedure and heals very quickly they are not cutting her tongue just the little piece of skin that connects it to the floor of the mouth. I suppose if it interfered with my daughters speech and eating I would have said yes knowing that it is an easy procedure. Good luck , I hope this helped a little.
From the teacher standpoint I've also seen a lot of improvement when this was done on a child who was in another class. The boy was younger than my classroom so I never taught him before I left teaching to be a SAHM. So yes, the improvement will come with the surgery. A friend that I used to teach with has since gone into day care management and she too has seen some pretty extreme improvement after a toddler had it done.
From the parent standpoint.. I totally agree with you! Its so hard to contemplate the idea of someone doing that to my baby. My son is having surgery for hypospadia in late February/early march and even though that's definitely necessary (though its not life threatening, its kind of a quality of life kind of thing) its hard to contemplate. As a Mom I know how you feel.
They can't force you to do it but do talk to a doctor/specialist or whoever you would need to see and just hear what they have to say about it. Gather information and make the best decision you can.
My youngest son has this same issue. He has had speech issues since he was 2. He would plain just not speak. I immediately got him into a speech program and he has improved dramatically. The doctors noticed his tounge issue when he was first born and told me that it MAY be a problem. We have held off on doing anything about it. He will be 5 in March. I still hear significant speech differences between him and other kids his age.
You have several different opinions on the table, how about a doctors opinion? Or a specialist/ ENT?
In my opinion, I would not hesitate to get it done. There are alot of surgeries we do for ourselves and our children for different reasons. I have another son (6) that has had ear tubes in his ears. He got them in a couple of years ago. He is still complaining of not being able to hear when talking on the phone. SO, I will be seeing what I can find out about why he can not hear very well. Perhaps another set of ear tubes is necessary.
You are doing your research which is excellent. I think it will encourage me to do some more online research too. I would check with your pediatrician. Kids can be harsh though and if this can assist your daughter and make it a bit easier to talk, it may be worth it.
Thoughts and prayers are with you while you make this difficult decision. Know that I am there as well.
Theresa
Hi Holly,
My son is only 5 months old but he was tongue tied at birth. It was causing some latching issues with breast feeding so we did go and see an ENT doctor. He told me that it would most likely make a difference on his latch and help with my soreness if we went ahead with the procedure (he was 1 week old) he also told me that the top connector (not sure what it is called) might cause problems down the road, but most likely it will be okay and not to worry about it now. SO, we went ahead with the clipping and it was fine. I chose not to be in the room, but it literally took less than 1 min for him to go in and snip it back. It did bleed and he did cry, but you need to remember that the mouth is the FASTEST healing place. I nursed him about 5 mins after it was done and he was just fine. I know that it will be more traumatic on a 5 year old, but it will most likely be something that will improve many area's of her life and if you think about it down the road she would probably much rather have speech come easy to her rather than have to continue to see speech therapists all the time. You won't be bad parents if you have this done, you will be looking out for her well being as a growing child.
It really isn't an extensive procedure at all, I wouldn't consider it surgery. Good luck though... let us know what you decide and how the turn out is if you get it done.
I have twin brothers who struggled for years with saying their R's. It was getting worse, and becoming very frustrating for them, as they had no other problems. When they finally went in to have it looked at, turns out they were tongue-tied (just like your daughter, though not as much as her). Here are the basics:
The skin below the tongue is sometimes too tight, or extends too far along the bottom of the tongue. When this happens, the tongues is physically incapable of moving certain ways to make certain sounds; no amount of therapy can change this. The tongue is tied down.
All my brothers did was go in to the doctor, and he used a laser to clip the extra skin. Their tongues were hardly sore, and after the first day there was no pain whatsoever. Now they can say their R's just fine, and are very, very happy.
Clipping the tongue does not mean cutting her tongue away from her mouth. The extra skin/taut skin is only clipped back to the point of a normal, un-tied tongue. No more. This gives the tongue the mobility to move as it should.
Think about this: if someone is hurt, and they end up with extra scar tissue that inhibits their ability to move, the logical thing would be to surgically correct it so that they would have natural mobility returned to them. This is a simple thing to correct, and I promise you, the doctor will not be doing anything barbaric to your daughter's mouth.
Your daughter is not disabled; she has skin that is too tight or that grew too far along the underside of her tongue. If she has the procedure, she will talk as well as anyone.
I would advise you to go ahead and have the procedure. It will save your daughter a year of frustration, and you time and expense.
Go with the laser procedure, too. She might be a little sore the first day, but nothing more. The pain is minimal with a laser, and the healing is super, super fast.
I hope this eases and calms your mind. My brothers were thrilled to have it done, and highly recommend it.
God bless!
Mary
Good morning, Holly:
You are right to seek out more advice. I would go to your pediatrician, or even a specialist, and ask for a physical exam.
The doctor will know, so will a dentist. When it comes to any procedure at all: always seek out professional opinions. The physician will help you and refer you, so will your child's dentist.
The more you know and hear, the more solid your decision making can become. Then you can breathe freely, because you'll know you've consulted others, as you should.
Good luck!
My son is six now and has been in speech since he was 3 1/2 and so far he is still working on the M, B, P, G and he is getting no were and it has been a waste of time in my opinion. I am looking for a doctor so they can cut his tongue. He has had kids make fun of the way he talk and he is being held back in school because of this so i am for it.
I am facing the same thing, my daughter is now five. Her speech is not bad, only a few sounds that are problematic. But we recently visited the dentist who says she is going to need braces. The longer I wait the worse her overbite will be. My pediatrician told me hers was not bad enough at birth to cause problems. I am upset that it just wasn't done as an infant, first of all because I couldn't nurse her. She couldn't latch on from the time she was born, no one bothered to tell me it was probably due o her tongue being tied. I do see that my daughters speech is getting progressively worse. I am told it wont be a big deal at all. You should probably get it done if it is interfering with her life already.
Well after an entire year of trying speech instead of the surgery it wasn’t enough so we went ahead with it. It is the beginning of the school year so we will have to see how things go. I’m hoping for the best.