How Do I Know if My Baby Has a Tongue or Lip Tie?
Many breastfeeding women worry about whether their kid has lip or tongue ties, and if they have, how it’ll be treated. Unfortunately, the answer is that you can’t tell based on your baby’s appearance alone. These ties are diagnosed by an experienced medical professional such as our dentist in Salt Lake City, UT. However, common signs might help you determine whether your baby has a lip or tongue tie.
What’s Tongue Tie?
It’s also known as ankyloglossia. In this condition, your child’s tongue is attached too tightly at its base. A tongue-tie often occurs when your baby’s lingual frenulum connecting the tongue to the bottom of the mouth is too short, thick, or malformed. This makes it difficult for your kid to move their tongue freely and often causes issues with breastfeeding and speaking.
What’s a Lip Tie?
This condition occurs when there is insufficient space between your kid’s upper and lower gums. This’s due to two reasons: The labial frenulum may be attached to one side of the upper gum too closely. Or it can be because of ankyloglossia when your baby’s frenulum that connects the base to the mouth’s bottom is too short. In addition, a lip tie may limit movement and make feeding difficult.
Signs of a Lip or Tongue Tie
Lip and tongue ties can make it difficult to feed your baby effectively. Here are a few signs that this condition could be at the root of your challenges.
Difficulty Latching During Breastfeeding
Latching refers to the way the baby attaches to the mom’s breast. A proper latch is pain-free and comfortable with the baby’s chest and stomach resting against the mom’s body. The baby’s mouth should be over the entire breast rather than just the nipple.
If the baby has a lip or tongue tie, you’ll find that the initial latching process isn’t as seamless as it should be. As a result, your child might struggle to remain latched or get a comfortable latch.
Painful Breastfeeding
The sensation might be a little unusual if you’re a first-time mom. However, it shouldn’t be painful. If the process is uncomfortable, it may be because your baby hasn’t latched successfully in the right position. For instance, if your baby is tongue-tied, they might concentrate too much force on your nipple, which can cause pain.
Infant Fatigue While Breastfeeding
Nursing can put a tired baby to sleep. For that reason, you’ll find that your little one reaches for you when they’re sleepy, fussy, or in distress. It helps them relax, be comfortable, and be soothed.
The intent is not for the baby to become fatigued while struggling to latch and feed properly. If you notice that nursing is frustrating and exhausting your child, this might signify a tongue or lip tie.
You might also see they’re tired because they have difficulty breathing while feeding. This’s common in kids with a tongue tie, as they can’t perform the wave-like motion required to move food from the front of the mouth to the back before swallowing. This results in poor breath patterns, which might cause them to become overwhelmed and exhausted.
Limited Tongue Mobility
Babies have hilarious facial expressions, and one of them is a tongue-out giggle if your baby’s tongue-tie, the mobility of sticking their tongue out might be partially or fully limited.
Also, this may make breastfeeding unproductive and uncomfortable. This is because your kid’s tongue needs a full range of motion to latch onto your rest successfully.
Poor Weight Gain
Most babies lose 7-10 % of their birth weight as soon as they’re born. However, most regain that weight within two weeks of their birth. If your baby hasn’t reached that mark, visit your pediatrician’s office in Warm Family Dentistry because they’ll reveal if your baby’s weight gain isn’t where it’s supposed to be. This might be a sign of incomplete nutrition or inadequate feeding, which can be attributed to tongue or lip ties.
Treatment of Lip or Tongue Ties
If you suspect you suffer from these ties, you should treat lip and tongue ties in Taylorsville. Our dentist performs simple laser surgery to correct the problem. The process is called a frenectomy, performed at the dentist’s office. But, first, the dentist addresses the inflexible.