Tomorrow my 7 month old is undergoing surgery for ankyloglossia or "tongue-tied." Has anyone had any experience with this procedure? I can nurse 3 hours before the surgery and/or give him formula by midnight.
Thank you so much for the wonderful responses. Well, the procedure went wonderfully. I swear it was harder on me than my son. He was in there a total of 5 mins and it was over. He breastfed afterwards and is now sleeping. I'm really glad we did it now instead of waiting. I can't wait to see him stick out his tongue!! I am giving him Motrin or Tylenol every 3 hours for pain. Thanks again for the help. :)
I think it is great that you are having it done now. My daughter didn't have hers clipped until after she was 3. We have been in speech for a year and half now. If I could do it all over I would have pushed the doctor do it when she was first born.
As far as recovery - I bet you will see her recover quickly. Babies are so resiliant.
Hi C., my brother had this surgery done when he was in kindergarten. It helped tremendously with his speech and I don't remember him being in much pain. I think it will be great for your son to have it while he's an infant. It will help with eating and speech.
My son had it earlier this year when he was 4. He did pretty good, but he was crying really hard when he came out of surgery. They did not let me know that the gas they gave him made them feel really bad when they came out of it. They said he probably felt like he was hit by a truck. Ugh!!
My son wouldn't take the meds to make him feel better right after the surgery, so make sure to give it to him immediately afterwards.
C.,
My 6y/o had his tongue clipped when he was three weeks old. He was having trouble gaining weight, and the dr. discovered that his tongue was tied, and clipped it right in the office. My son didn't show any sign of pain, and there was very little blood. He was nursing right away after having the procedure done, and immediately he was able to start gaining weight. I pray that all goes well with your sweet little baby boy. It is always so hard to see our little ones suffer. May God bless you and your family.
Hello, my son had that done when he turned 3 years old. Dr and my son did great. He went in the gave him the drink then put him to sleep and went off in surgery and the Dr came back in 5 minutes and said it went great. About 15 minutes later my son was rolled out and fine. He was in a little pain but gave him the tynenol with codine 2 times and was fine. That night he ate and kept showing me what he could do. He actedd as nothing happenned. He still can't fold his tongue up when he says yellow but I think he still has to get used to it. He seems like his has a fat short tongue anyways.....but overall he speaks clearer and I am glad we did it. Just out of curiosity, do you have any other family member that had or has this??? My mom has it. Don't worry it heals fast and amazing how kids do after surgery, we should learn from them.
My son, now 15 was born "tongue tied". The hospital didn't even say anything about it, so after I got home with him and noticed it, of course I panicked. My mother and I immediately called the pediatrician and told him we needed to get it "fixed". He said, "no, they used to clip it until if was discovered that the babies seem to always grow out of it." Wonderful pediatrician, but we didn't accept that so my mother and I called almost every number in the phone book looking for someone to fix it. Maybe it is different where I'm from but they allll said, "no", they don't do that any more." I had no choice but to leave it. Sure enough he grew completely out of it before he was old enough to even talk and you would never know he was even tongue tied. Of course, your case may be different. Maybe more severe or something, but my son was difinitely tongue tied all the way to the tip of his tongue and I called at least 25 places or more here in Texas and they said all the years of "clipping the tongue" was unecessary. If I could have, I would have definitely taken care of it though. Glad to learn it can still be done. Good luck!
OMG! I had the same problem with my daughter! My pediatrician recommended waiting to see if she outgrew and she pretty much has... It has caused a few problems with oral hygeiene because she can't her big fat tongue all the way over to brush way back in the back! I have to help which isn't a big deal. I haven't noticed any effects on her speech and don't anticipate any either. Not sure how predominat yours is, but! Let me know how it goes!!! Please!
My dd was 7 when she had her's done so I am sure that it is quite different than a baby but we had no complications from the surgery. I would think that since your son still eats either baby food or very soft table food that he would not have as much discomfort as my daughter. The only thing that was hard for her was eating. Soups and very soft food was all she could eat for about a week. Her tongue was very sore. I hope it goes well for you.
I know several that had it, and it was very easy for them. Everyone was glad they did it.
Yay for being able to nurse and comfort baby before and after! Good luck!
My dd had hers done right after she turned 1 - we so wish she had it clipped at birth - it would have saved a lot of heartache with feeding issues. She had no complications and is turning 6 next week! She was still nursing, and nursed right after the procedure. Hope it all went well for you!!
