I wish I could tell Jessica otherwise, but no that is the typical garbage recommended by sleep consultants here in Manhattan. Welcome to the bicoastal drift!  I'm wouldn't be surprised if the pediatrician to the stars has planted an outpost in California.  Nothing about four feeds a day is normal. When I did my doctoral dissertation, night feeds were frequent all the way to 18 months in Guatemala and four feeds a day is not even normal for elementary school children.  I keep telling parents that elementary school children get a midmorning snack and if they stay for afterschool, they need a midafternoon snack -- so why would anyone in their right mind expect a baby with a much smaller stomach do well on four feeds a day. It is even WORSE than the formula feeding schedule that was popular when my mother was pushed to feed me formula.  At least back then, they feed babies six time a day -- not four.  

Sorry, I've had a bad day where I have another failure to thrive baby from the pediatrician to the stars who told the mom a baby who had lost almost two pounds was fine and now at 10 weeks when the baby is sleeping 8 hours at night and not gaining still thinks the baby is fine even though the baby is cranky and eating her fists all day long until she collapses from exhaustion. And of course, the mother was never told to pump or figure out if there might be some underlying condition such as tongue tie that might make it difficult for this baby to drive the supply. Of course the mother was initially happy that she was told that everything was hunky dory -- but now she is not.  Now this problem is going to be much worse to fix.

And I'm sorry, I'm still confused about why having a tongue tie done sooner rather than later is a problem if the tongue tie is judged significant enough to be a functional problem. I still do not see what is wrong with telling mothers the truth that some babies who have tongue tie might have speech problem.  I still do not see what is wrong with an ENT saying that it is better to take care of a tongue tie that is significant enough to cause speech problems to have it done sooner rather than later? And wouldn't an ENT who does clip tongue ties (or a pediatrician for that matter) on a routine basis have a better idea of whether or not it makes a difference have a better idea than a pediatrician who does not clip tongue ties?  

How many of us have the unfortunate experience of having mothers who are unhappy with the fact that their baby may not be perfect focus their anger on the first person who told them that their baby is not perfect?  I often find I follow up after other lactation consultants who had the misfortune to be the first person to notice a problem then be the person who is blamed for noticing a real problem rather than the problem itself being blamed.  So, I try in gentle ways to shift the focus of anger off the lactation consultant that told them (or in some cases the ENT that told them) onto the real problem that its a drag when your baby has a problem but aren't they glad that they can move forward and improve the situation --- and maybe then they can put into perspective that the person that told them is not quite as horrible as they initially thought. 

Sorry, sleep consultants I feel are a HUGE problem here in New York City.  And while I think we do have some overenthusiastic referrals about frenulums that may not actually be the root cause of a problem, that doesn't mean that I don't think that tongue ties should not be taken seriously.  

Best regards, Susan Burger

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