This topic is personally intriguing to me and I'm moved to write up my
story--obviously a sample size of 1. I'd be curious to hear more about
that study.

Both of my girls were tongue tied.  With my first, I had unbearable
pain, nipple damage, etc, and when she stopped being able transfer
milk at 21 days I had the frenotomy done and it was an instant relief
and change for both of us.  Happy ending.

With my younger daughter, the pediatrician knew my concerns and
evaluated her for tongue tie at birth.  He saw one and referred us to
an ENT as the ENT who treated my older daughter was no longer
practicing due to retirement.  He saw the tongue tie and refused to
clip it, saying that because I had no pain and she was gaining well
there was no reason to do it now.  He said the earliest he would clip
a tongue tie was 4 months.

At 8 weeks (the time you said the study mentioned), my younger
daughter was gaining well and I still had no pain.  But she began a
nursing strike that was unbelievably awful.  I only survived it
because I was a second time mom and LLLL and believed in babywearing
and cosleeping.  She refused to nurse when awake--would see the
breast, turn to latch, then scream.  I would have to bounce her to
sleep in the carrier, then I could lay her down and nurse her while
barely awake.  She nursed fine at night (hence the good growth) but
our days were awful.  Our whole family was suffering, especially my
older daughter who was 2.5 and stuck watching endless hours of TV
while I cared for my miserable newborn.

I finally got a 2nd opinion on the tongue tie when she was 3 months
and had it released.  I could feel a difference right away (realized I
had been feeling a very small pinch) but the strike behavior didn't go
away.  I couldn't do the aftercare because I was still spending hours
bouncing her to sleep so that she would nurse.

At 4 months I went back to the ENT who repeated the frenotomy for
reattachment.  This time I was vigilant about sweeping (ended up
sweeping for 3 weeks to be on the safe side), and finally when she was
5 months old she was nursing well day and night.  I remember crying
with happiness the first time she nursed to sleep, and the relief I
felt when she was finally able to nurse in public was one of the most
intense feelings of my life.  That was at 5 months.

I missed a special time in my baby's life that I will never get back
because I tried a wait-and-see approach with the tongue tie.  I even
knew how minor the procedure was, but I let myself listen to the ENT
and I know this is one of those mom-guilt things I will always carry.
My memories of her early months are filled with pain and it's hard to
even think about them, especially because with my older daughter I
have such fond memories of her as a 3 month old.

I try not to let my personal experience affect the way I work with
moms.  I want them to make their own decisions.  I do tell them that
there are risks associated with not clipping that may not present
themselves right away.

Annie Frisbie
LLLL, IBCLC
http://motheringbyinstinct.com
____

> ------------------------------
>
> Date:    Sat, 2 Feb 2013 08:39:01 -0600
> From:    laurie wheeler <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: does tongue-tie "resolve?"
>
> I am not at work now, but I believe I have an article that addresses this
> "resolution." If I remember correctly, a study looked at dyads where
> clipping was done early vs not done at all. The clipping did help, but
> after (I think) 7 weeks, the dyads who did not clip were also breastfeeding
> (doing well, gaining weight etc I think?). The problem was that many dyads
> (that did not clip) dropped out due to all the bf problems.
> I think the take home message was clipping is very helpful, but if you
> don't clip and can persist thru all the problems, after about 7 wks the 2
> groups look the same.
> My thought is that maybe the worst ones were the ones to drop out. But I
> have shared this with several mothers who did not under any circumstances
> want the baby's tongue released.
> I will cc this message to work so I can find the article.
> Laurie Wheeler RN MN IBCLC
> Mississippi USA

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