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Welcome to the Simply Pediatrics Podcast simplifying holistic health care for infants and children. We're so glad you're here. Join Jennifer Zeffner, holistic pediatric nurse practitioner and holistic mom of three on a mission. Listen in as she shares the answers to the most asked questions from parents in her practice every day and offers parents practical strategies and actionable steps to support their child's health and well being. Enjoy this insightful, delightful episode of the Simply Pediatrics Podcast and stay tuned for more information at the end of the podcast. Today's Episode Tongue Ties
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hello and welcome. I'm so happy to be here with you today. Today I'm talking about tongue ties. It is a big topic of conversation for parents, especially at that newborn visit. I believe they tend to be over diagnosed and probably clipped more often than they need to be. But let's talk about them and let me give you my levels of concern with a tongue tie. So I am specifically talking about a tongue tie. A lip tie is different. That's the tie that's up on the ridge of their mouth over here and can be a tight little tie and that can cause some problems. For the most part though, it is the tie underneath the tongue as seen here in this picture, and it varies pretty widely. It can be a very thick tie, it can be a very close tie. It can not be noted at the first newborn visit and then maybe later on we feel it a little bit more significant there. But the bottom line is that there's different levels of concern when it comes to a tongue tie. So the most extreme level of concern here is that we have a mom in for their first visit. The baby's three to five days old and every time mom puts the baby on the breast, she's in excruciating pain. Now remember, for my new mamas out there, we can have some pain when we first latch our baby. So for the first two weeks of life, when you latch your baby onto the breast, it's going to be pretty excruciating pain. I usually say it's like shards of glass pain, which it is for the first minute and then it should go away and then you should just feel a gentle tugging. It should not hurt any longer. So for moms out there who are having pain, pain meaning that baby, they cannot keep their baby on this breast because it is so painful. For the most part, that is caused by a tug tie. Sometimes that's just mom's positioning. We need to see a lactation consultant and review how she's, you know, holding the baby, etc. But if it is from a tie that we're feeling and we have a mom that has excruciating pain, then that needs to be cut immediately because that mom's going to end up failing breastfeeding and that's a terrible thing. So that tongue tie needs to be cut immediately. So you see an ENT who you trust. They do do it in the office at the time of the appointment and it does heal very quickly. And babies go on to be able to nurse for the most part, babies go on to nurse beautifully after that. If we feel a tie inside of the baby's mouth in that first week of life, but mom isn't complaining of any pain, then we wait and we wait and we see. Because the second level of concern here is they have a baby with a tongue tie, Mom's not having any pain, but when we see the baby at their 10 day visit, they're not gaining weight. And that can be confusing for moms because they're like, well, she's latching all the time. But when we feel inside the mouth, we feel the tongue tie. And what that means for the most part is that that baby is latching, but not as adequately as they would be if there was no tongue tie. So they're not giving mom any pain, but they're also not transferring, they're not transferring the milk as adequately as they should be. And in those instances, I send babies to be evaluated as well. And most of the time the tongue tie needs to be clipped. The third level of concern is that we have no pain. We have a baby who's growing, but mom is complaining that we have colic. We have a baby that's crying, often inconsolable periods of time, arching their back, just really uncomfortable, and we're still feeling a little bit of a tongue tie in there. Even though mom has no pain and the baby's gaining weight, we can have a latch that's not appropriate. So they're getting enough milk, but they're getting too much air in again because the latch isn't as great as it should be because of that tongue tie. And in those instances, when I have moms telling me this within the first like six weeks of life, I also defer to the ENT because is that the reason before we start taking a million things out of mom's diet, which can also be the reason for colic, let's take a look and make sure we don't have a tongue that's not latching appropriately, getting too much air in there and causing digestive upset. The next level of concern comes with our 2 month olds. At 2 months old, your baby should be able to push themselves up on their forearms, raise up their whole head and chest while they're on their belly. If they are really struggling to do this and we're still feeling a tongue tie in there, it can actually be a tether that's keeping their head down like this. And that's another level of concern that we want evaluated. So by the two month mark, if we've had no other issues with this tongue tie and it's still kind of there and we're watching it, by two months, if they're not really raising up their head and chest and having some trouble, even though mom and dad are doing lots of tummy time, then we want that tongue tie evaluated. If we get past all of these markers and we're still kind of feeling the tie in there, but it's not causing us any problems, you can do one of two things. You can still go and have your baby evaluated. Certainly when they're younger, it is a quicker procedure. They don't have to be put under sedation and it heals faster. So if it does need to be clipped, an ENT can take care of that for you. Or you can wait. Many times these ties loosen up and become a non issue. Sometimes we don't see any further issues with the tongue tie until a child starts to speak and between three and four, they're having more articulation issues than they should be. And at that time, a tongue tie should be re evaluated to be addressed at that older age. Some families don't like to wait until then because of course by that age to have a tongue tie addressed, they do have to go under anesthesia, which can be obviously not ideal, but it's more rare. Oftentimes those tongue ties loosen up, they become a non issue. I hope I explained this all correctly. They are really, I think they're clipped a little too often than they need to be. You can kind of follow these gentle guidelines. And if you reach the two months mark and you still feel the tongue tie, but you're not having any issues and you have a trusted ent, they're gonna, they'll tell you, you know, ask them if you can wait. What are the repercussions if you wait? What does the procedure look like later on in life? Or should we just have it done now? All right. I hope this information was helpful for you. I will put some links at the bottom of this because There's a lot of information out there about tongue ties. All righty. Parenting is a journey. You're doing an amazing job. Stay curious and keep learning and I'll see you next time.
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Thank you for joining Jenny on the Simply Pediatrics podc. We hope that the valuable information she shared in this episode will inspire and empower you on your holistic parenting journey. If you would like to learn more about Jenny, her Simply Pediatrics practice, or anything that she spoke about today, please check the show notes that accompany this podcast and you'll find all the links and resources you need. You can also sign up for the SimplyPediatrics mailing list so that you receive Jenny's weekly newsletters packed with vital information and holistic parenting journeys. If you've enjoyed today's episode, please consider giving this page a like and subscribe to the channel so you don't miss any episodes. And don't forget to connect with us by sharing your thoughts in the comments section below. Follow Simply Pediatrics on any and all of the social media platforms. And if you're interested in an in person or a virtual appointment with Jenny, please see the contact details in the show notes. Stay tuned for more episodes packed with a wealth of powerful information to support you on your holistic parenting path. See you next time. It.