Normally, the “tongue” has several important functions, but for newborns, the tongue’s role is to help suck milk from the mother’s breast. The baby sticks out the tongue to the areola and presses the milk into the mouth. If the baby has excessive frenulum attachment under the tongue, it will cause the tip of the tongue to move outward and be unable to lick the areola, resulting in problems when breastfeeding. Some babies use their gums to suck milk, which causes pain to the mother, cracked nipples, and becomes an obstacle to breastfeeding in the future.
The frenulum, or thin membrane at the base of the tongue, occurs in all infants and is considered normal. However, some babies may have a more extensive frenulum attachment that reaches the tip of the tongue, causing problems with tongue tip movement or poor tongue mobility.
Symptoms that may indicate tongue-tie problems
- The baby has difficulty latching onto the nipple, sucks weakly, and frequently
- The baby’s weight does not increase as expected and may have jaundice
- The baby cannot stick the tongue past the lips or upper gums and cannot lift the tongue tip to touch the palate
- The tip of the tongue may be notched inward in a heart shape
- For the mother, there may be pain while the baby is breastfeeding, cracked nipples with wounds, and complications such as mastitis
Is “tongue-tie” necessary to treat?
In the past, breastfeeding was not given much importance. If a baby could not breastfeed, the solution was to feed with a bottle. Nowadays, breastfeeding is promoted more because it has been proven to provide more benefits, leading most mothers to want to breastfeed their babies for as long as possible.
Treatment approach
Tongue-tie treatment involves surgery. For infants under 4 months or those without teeth, local anesthesia can be used. Babies do not need to stop breastfeeding before surgery. The procedure takes 5-10 minutes. After surgery, the baby can breastfeed immediately and go home. Postoperative wounds do not require special care and usually heal on their own within 1-2 weeks. Infection at the wound site is very rare.
Other impacts caused by tongue-tie
Since the tongue is an important organ for speech, especially the tip of the tongue which helps with consonant sounds, older children with tongue-tie reaching the tip may have unclear speech, delayed speech, and low self-esteem. However, because tongue-tie occurs in newborns and tends to stretch out naturally, there is no clear indication for treatment during infancy. If there are no breastfeeding problems, doctors will schedule regular check-ups. If the frenulum stretches out on its own, no treatment is needed. If it does not stretch, further treatment will be considered.
