Breastfeeding is important for all babies since it is the best source of nutrition for infants. Sometimes there are challenges with breastfeeding.  The usual methods of managing breastfeeding, such as adjusting positioning and the way the baby attaches to the breast, usually solving the problem of a baby not being able to gain weight or mother having pain while breast feeding. If those methods don’t work for the nursing duo, one could check for tongue tie as a potential cause of the challenge. Learning what tongue tie is, how it affects breastfeeding, and what interventions could help can help with the problem.

Personal Story

My grandson was born with a tongue tie. The midwife discovered it at a follow up appointment after his birth. My daughter said he was having a hard time breastfeeding. Once he had a frenotomy (see below) he nursed like a champ. When researching tongue ties to better understand what they were going through, I realized that my younger daughter may have a tongue tie. We went to a specialized dentist and found that she did have at tongue tie! We scheduled the procedure, and she can now swallow vitamins and say her r’s correctly. Amazing!

What Are Tongue Ties?

Johns Hopkins Medicine describes tongue ties in the following manner:

The tongue attaches to the floor of the mouth with a web of tissue called the lingual frenulum. Tongue-tie, or ankyloglossia, is an inborn variation in this structure. The lingual frenulum may be shortened or thickened, restricting movement of the tongue, or it may tether the tongue too close to the tip.

The baby could have a couple of different kinds of tongue ties which affect the tongue movement and the ability to breastfeed.

 How Do Tongue Ties Affect Breastfeeding?

Babies need to be able to freely move his tongue and expand it over the lower gum with a wide-open mouth to breastfeed correctly. Not being able to do this can negatively affect breasting.

For the baby:

• Might not be able to latch onto the breast at all
• Have difficulty staying on the breast
• Makes a clicking sound as he loses suction
• Be unable to latch on deeply causing nipple pain and damage
• Choke when coping with fast-flowing milk
• Breastfeed constantly to get enough milk
• Have poor weight gain or need supplementation to maintain his weight
• Develop jaundice
• Be fussy at the breast when the milk flow starts
• Develop colic

For the mother:

• Engorgement or mastitis because of ineffective milk removal
• Pain during feedings damaged nipples
• Low milk production because ineffective milk removal
• Tiredness frustration and discouragement
• Oversupply of milk if baby compensates for not being able to breastfeed well by nursing very frequently
• An early end to breastfeeding

Many mothers want to breastfeed and would be glad help their baby breastfeed more easily.

What Interventions Can Help?

Interventions that can help with tongue ties include encouraging tongue mobility and a procedure call a frenotomy.

Encourage tongue mobility by tilting back with your baby on you as you encourage him to lick his milk from your nipple before and after his feeds. Also, you can play a game by sticking your tongue out at your baby and encourage him to mimic you.

A procedure called a frenotomy could be considered. Frenotomy is a dividing of a tongue tie. It can improve breastfeeding ease and effectiveness for both baby and mom. Dividing the tongue tie is a short and straightforward procedure. No anesthetic is needed for a baby under six months old. There are professionals specifically trained to divide tongue ties.

Action

If you are a breastfeeding mother, be aware that tongue ties can potentially be a cause for breastfeeding challenges and see help from a qualified individual.

May God bless your healthful endeavors!

Joni

P.S. What do you know about tongue ties?