Leslie,
>>I more than half expected to see a short frenulum, but the
underside of the baby's tongue appeared to have a fleshy band.<<

Would you mine elaborating on this description more? I have come to
realize that frenulum problems are not just a matter of "short" and
"long", but also can relate to placement. I'm not sure what you mean by a
"fleshy band", but I do know that I have seen some frenulums that were
not at that the base of the tongue, but rather were located forward,
attaching at midpoint or at the base of the alveolar ridge on the bottom,
and attaching at the midpoint or tip of the tongue on the underside.
Location can be the issue and the cause of the lack of mobility. Are you
referring to this or something else? In these cases, clipping this
attachment will usually free the tongue to do its work.

It is true that if you wait long enough, some of these babies will grow
sufficiently to take the breast in properly; the issue is not so much if
time can help, but if moms can wait that long. Today's moms often don't
have the fortitude or confidence to pump a month or two or three while
waiting for baby to "maybe" outgrow the problem. If it is clippable, I
opt for this rather than wear mom and baby down.

If I am off base, I'd love to hear about your new anomaly!

-Lisa

*************************************************
Lisa Marasco, BA, LLLL, IBCLC
[log in to unmask]  /  [log in to unmask]

*************************************************