Renu Kalra

Your baby has a tongue tie when your baby’s tongue is attached to the base of the mouth. Tongue-ties can be of various kinds – from milk to severe.

In most cases, tongue-tie can be confirmed at birth of the baby. Just look under your baby’s tongue and you’ll know for sure.

First of all, let me reassure you once that a tongue tie is a common occurrence in newborns. There is nothing that you should be worried about if your doctor confirms that your baby has a tongue tie.

Common problems that a tongue tie can cause

Obviously, tongue-tie is a condition that has to be treated at the right time. And while it is still there, it is bound to cause some problems for both you and your baby. Here are a few common problems that you will come across –

1. Your baby will have difficulty in having a strong sucking motion while breastfeeding.
2. When your baby is not able to suck all the milk out of your breasts, your milk supply may decrease. Unless of course you compensate it by pumping (which is highly recommended if you plan to breastfeed longer)
3. Your baby will feel a lack of satisfaction on the part of the baby and constant hunger
4. An improper latch will cause you sore, cracked, damaged nipples.
5. Also, you, as a mother, are more susceptible to mastitis, nipple thrush and even blocked ducts.
6. Once you start solids, your baby will be unable to chew and gulp food properly.
7. As a result of tongue-tie there is bound to be delay in speech development as well.

The list of problems that infants, children and even adults have to deal with because of tongue tie is endless. But there is definitely a solution to it.

For infants, your best bet is to continue giving breast milk, even if pumped in a bottle. Tongue-tie, in no way, means that you stop breastfeeding.

ALSO READ – How To Store Breastmilk

How to deal with a tongue tie

The only possible way to correct a tongue tie is with a surgery. While some doctors use a laser, others use sharp scissors to treat it.

Now this is from personal experience – My niece, who is 7 months old now, has a tongue tie. When we went to see the doctor, he advised us to wait until we got it treated. Part of the reason being that because my niece had a mild tongue tie, he said that it might not need surgery. So we are still waiting on that and once she turns a year old, we will take her to the doctor again to check if we need it done or not.

Also, she has started speaking a few words and she seems to be imitating the sounds just fine. So we are hoping we would not need a surgery, but again, doctor’s opinion is the one we will go with.

I will surely update you once I have more info on what the doctor advises a few months down the line.

Does your baby have a tongue-tie too? When and how did you get it treated? Do let us know if you have any questions for us regarding tongue-tie in the ask a question section.