Ann,
I believe many of us Lactnetters have seen problems such as you describe

with short frenulums.  I wish I had a local ENT who was willing to clip
the frenulum, but the majority of our local docs (including ALL of our
pediatricians) do not believe that clipping the frenulum will do
anything to improve the latch,  believing the frenulum will lengthen
with time.  All of this while the mom is in incredible agony and may
even develop sore, cracked nipples.  We have developed a relationship
wherein they agree I can let them know the baby has a short frenulum,
but I can't expect them to do anything about it.  Some of the local GPs
are more amenable to suggestions of clipping the frenulum - indeed, some

come up with it themselves.

Keep in mind this baby has been dealing with a short frenulum throughout

pregnancy and may need a lot of work to learn to use the tongue
effectively.  Suck training frequently helps as does encouraging parents

to persuade their baby to mimic tongue thrusting by sticking their
tongue out at the baby.  I also encourage moms to express some milk onto

the nipple prior to latching.  I also suggest she shape the breast for
the baby to latch initially and maintain the shape until the baby is
managing to keep the breast in its mouth well when feeding.  It still
may take a while, but most of these babies can eventually be persuaded
to latch and feed well.  This is always a difficult thing to
do....patience and calmness help a lot.

Jeanne Hagreen, RN, IBCLC
Prince George, BC