12/07/2022
Tongue tie release (otherwise known as a frenectomy.)
A congenital issue that limits the mobility of the tongue. If the frenum is too short, attached in the wrong place, or too thick it can cause restriction to the range of motion of the tongue. It has been researched that amongst other things tongue tie can negatively impact breastfeeding.
Twenty years ago my son was diagnosed with a pronounced tongue tie. Breastfeeding was a huge challenge, for both of us. Clumsy ni**le guards, various lactation techniques/advice, and then finally at the eleven week mark the devastating resignation that the only way my beautiful boy was going to thrive and enjoy the feeding experience was for me to stop breast feeding and transition to expressing and supplementing with formula. For us the whole breast feeding experience was nothing short of dreadful.
We didn’t know anyone who had experienced what we were going through. Living remotely at the time, we were advised by our wonderful country GP that taking invasive action (lasering the tie whilst under general anaesthetic) before our son was twelve months old was not recommended. True now as it was then, lasering a frenum is a great alternative to the two other options, scissors or scalpel. Light energy is used when lasering, removing the soft tissue rather than cutting it. In our case and based on the advice to wait until our son was over a year old, and with the feeding complications dealt with we decided to persevere with the tongue tie. Fast forward several months with a growing concern regarding future speech development, we committed to the frenectomy two weeks after our son’s first birthday. Our experience, like many, of having a child have a frenectomy was straightforward. Still nothing had up to that point of being this gorgeous boy’s mum tugged on my heart strings more than when I carried him into the operating theatre for his anaesthetic to be administered, and having to then leave him there unconscious, limp and being prepped ready for this procedure. These days laser surgery is a relatively straightforward procedure, not requiring general anaesthetic, thank goodness.
When your baby is diagnosed with tongue tie, research your options, educate yourself, seek out viable solutions that match your baby's unique situation, and get multiple professional opinions before making any decisions regarding medical intervention.
Sarah sits down with Jimmy Rees and his wife Tori just months after one of his twin baby boys' medical emergency, to find out just how close they came to los...
