I cut the frenulum fairly frequently (once or twice a month).  It is an 
easy procedure which takes about 15 seconds.  It is virtually bloodless, 
though occasionally the cut edge will bleed a little.  This bleeding 
stops when the baby goes to the breast (breastfeeding stops 
bleeding‹‹yet another miracle).  As long as there is no muscle tissue in 
the frenulum, the procedure is safe.  It is easy to see if there is 
muscle tissue in the frenulum, a rare occurrence in any case.  

        Many children do a frenotomy on themselves in the first year or two of 
life when they fall on their chins, but this is too late for the 
breastfeeding.  Typically this occurs around 8 months while they cruise 
around the coffee table (Newman's emergency room developmental 
milestones #3).  The result is one of: cut chin, cut eyebrow or cut 
frenulum.

        Whether the frenotomy does any good, I am not always sure.  There are 
cases when I have no doubt the procedure helped.  There are some when it 
obviously has not.  And the majority is somewhere in the middle.  The 
reason is that I never just cut the frenulum.  In the clinic, I help the 
mother with the latching and so forth and the frenotomy is just one of 
the pieces of correcting sore nipples or a baby who refuses to latch on.

        Hope this helps.

        Jack Newman, MD, FRCPC