While I haven't worked with mothers and infants with a tight labial  
frenulum, I do have one myself, and I can tell you that it should have been  clipped.  
 
My mother nursed me until I was about 9mos, when I was weaned to cows  milk.  
Apparently, I was eating a lot of solids, too.  She told me  that it always 
hurt to nurse me.  Her nipples always looked "pinched" (her  words) the entire 
time she nursed me.  She has told me that she had no such  problems with my 
little brother, born six years later.  She described it as  toe-curling pain 
about 90% of the time, the rest of the time, it was just  pain.  I'm just glad 
she nursed me for as long as she did.  
 
To this day, it hurts to eat certain foods, I can't whistle, drinking from  a 
straw is difficult, and I have a significant gap in my front teeth from  it.  
I have been told that braces will not correct my gap, because as soon  as the 
braces come off, the teeth will be forced back to their old position by  the 
tight frenulum.  My dentist offered to clip it for me, but warned me  that it 
would cause significant pain and bleeding, a long healing time, and  would 
change the way I smile if I did it now.  At this time, the flap of  skin is quite 
thick.  He has told me that had they known to clip these  30yrs ago, I should 
have had it done, but the medical/dental community just  didn't know enough 
back then.  Even now, few dentists know about this, and  recognize the impact 
of it, which is why I'm sure this mother has had the issues  she's had with it. 
 
 
In my personal experience, I wish it had been clipped way back when.   I'm 
still undecided about doing it now.  
 
Sincerely,
 
Shannon Rittenhouse
LLL Leader, Virginia



**************The year's hottest artists on the red carpet at the Grammy 
Awards. Go to AOL Music.      
(http://music.aol.com/grammys?NCID=aolcmp00300000002565)

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

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome