Danielle's posts states, "It is so hard to understand why some parents will
not clip their child's tongue."  But I think the reason may be in the very
same post, where she reflects back on her son's clip at Day 6:  "I think it
was harder on me than him."

I wear many IBCLC hats:  I see mothers in the hospital (Day 1 or 2), and I
have a separate job as a private practitioner (PPLC) (where I see clients
usually somewhere between Day 7-14).  It has been my experience that the
mothers I see as a PPLC are MUCH more resistant to the notion of getting
their baby's tongue clipped than those in the hospital. And usually the pain
and damage to the mom at Days 7-14 is so much worse than what we might have
seen at Day 1-2.   You'd think they would jump at the notion, but they seem
to want to run the other way entirely.

So what is going on?   I have been pondering this, philosophically, for a
few years now.  These are not the moms who decide to throw in the BF towel,
and offer formula, to address the issue.  These are the mothers who say:  "I
would rather suffer through extraordinary pain myself, 8-12 times a day,
than subject my baby to the momentary pain of a frenulum clip."  (Of course,
I rarely learn the long-term outcomes.  I suspect those mothers do not end
up enduring that pain/damage for as long as they think they will.)

It seems like frenula are such a stubborn issue for us as IBCLCs:  We have
trouble finding practitioners who can do the clips; we have trouble with
resistant parents.  Is it because it involves the mouth -- one of our most
sensitive organs?

-- 
Liz Brooks JD IBCLC FILCA
Wyndmoor, PA, USA

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