When a baby has a tight upper lip frenum attachment, their mouth’s mobility may be limited, especially when talking in terms of the tongue. This can make nursing extremely difficult, as the baby is not able to latch onto the nipple. With the minimally-invasive procedure performed by our office, your baby can begin regular nursing within 24 hours.
TONGUE TIE :A tight lower tongue frenum attachment may restrict the mobility of the tongue and appear as a cupping or heart shaped tongue when the tongue is elevated. This can result in an inability to get the tongue under the nipple to create a suction to draw out milk. Long term a tongue tie can result in speech problems and/or issues later with transferring food around the mouth for chewing.
LIP TIE :A tight upper lip frenum attachment may compromise full lip flanging and appear as
a tight, tense upper lip during nursing. This can result in a shallow latch during
breastfeeding. Additionally, the tight upper lip may trap milk, resulting in constant
contact of the milk to the front teeth. This can result in decalcification and dental
decay can develop when the milk is not cleaned off of these areas. This same issue can
occur with bottle-feeding. If the frenum attaches close to the ridge or into the palate a
future diastema (gap between the teeth) can also occur.
SYMPTOMS: Some babies can have ties and not be symptomatic. To know if the ties are a problem we ask two major questions: “Is the baby getting enough to eat?” and “Is nursing comfortable for the mother?” Symptoms can be as follows:
. Poor latch
. Slides off nipple or falls asleep while attempting to latch
. Colic symptoms
. Reflux symptoms
. Poor weight gain
. Continuous feedings
. Gumming or chewing of the nipple
. Unable to take a pacifier or bottle
. Creased, cracked, bruised or blistered nipples
. Bleeding nipples
. Incomplete breast drainage
. Infected nipples or breasts
. Plugged ducts
. Mastitis (inflammation of the breast
. Nipple thrush
Misc Attachment | frenectomy_consent.pdf | 04-23-2020 |