Some babies with tongue ties and/or lip ties are able to attach to the breast and suck well. However, many of these infants have breastfeeding problems. The following are common amongst infants with tongue and lip ties and their mothers. It is important to note that these signs can be linked to other breastfeeding problem, as well, and are not solely related to lip ties or tongue ties.

Mothers may experience:

• Flattened nipples after breastfeeding
• Nipple pain and damage
• Prolonged feedings
• Poor breast drainage
• Decreased milk production

Infants may exhibit:

• Noisy suckling or clicking
• Popping on and off the breast
• Leaking on the sides of the mouth
• Poor weight gain
• Coughing or gagging
• Lip blisters
• Gas pain
• Noisy breathing/snoring sounds when sleeping
• Reflux or colic symptoms

How and Why do Tongue and Lip Ties Affect Breastfeeding?

The mobility of the tongue is very important during breastfeeding, both for the mother and the baby. A baby with a tied tongue may not be able to latch deeply onto the breast, past the nipple onto the areola. This compresses the nipple onto the hard palate in the baby’s mouth, leading to nipple pain and skin breakdown for the mother. A tongue tie often accompanies a high palate, which also decreases the suction and further reduces milk transfer. Babies with ties may not maintain a latch for long enough to take a full feeding, while others may remain attached to the breast for long periods of time without taking in enough milk. Some infants will feed only during the mother’s milk ejection reflex, or “let down” when the milk ejects more freely, but will not continue to draw milk out of the breast when this slows.

This won’t show up as obvious in infants that are bottle feed. Bottle feeding allows milk to drip into the mouth without effort, thus requiring less tongue muscle effort than is needed for breastfeeding.

An infant’s inability to breastfeed often results in the mother giving up breastfeeding entirely, while feeling that the problem is her fault. In reality, the problems may actually result from restricted tongue and upper lip attachments that are making it difficult or impossible.

Finding out if this may be the troubles of your child’s struggles is as close as going to your pediatric dentist. Not all specialize in diagnosing and treating tongue and lip ties, but those that do can help you figure out if this may resolve your infant’s issue.

At Grow Well Kids, our professional pediatric dentists that handle the diagnoses for tongue and lip tips, as well as the simple surgery that fixes them called frenectomy.

Call to schedule a consultation today at one of our three California locations, in the San Diego/Mira Mesa, Carlsbad, Rancho Santa Fe areas.