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If you’ve just had a newborn baby, you’d hear all about how “breast is best”. Sure, breastfeeding has several health benefits for you and your baby. But not every woman can breastfeed. You might have a low supply of milk, pain during breastfeeding, difficulty in your baby latching on, or you simply don’t want to — all of which are completely okay. It’s entirely up to you to choose breast or bottle for your baby, and you can do so by consulting your doctor, a lactation expert, and your baby’s pediatrician.
However, when it comes to breastfeeding, there are several other issues that one may face. Even if you want to, your baby might have trouble latching on to your nipples. You might think that it’s normal because every baby takes time to breastfeed, and that’s true. However, the issue might be a little deeper, causing them difficulty in breastfeeding. It may be a tongue-tie or a lip-tie. Read on to find out what these are and how you can tackle them.
Tongue-Tie: What Is It?
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If your baby has a tongue-tie, the strip of skin connecting their tongue to the bottom of their mouth may be shorter than normal. A tongue-tie, also called ankyloglossia, is usually diagnosed during the newborn’s physical examination. However, it’s not easy to spot, which makes it an easy miss (1).
Some babies are not bothered by this condition, but when it restricts the movement of your baby’s tongue, it leads to feeding problems. While breastfeeding, a baby needs to latch on to the breast tissues and nipples to successfully nurse. Their tongues need to cover the lower gums to protect the nipples from damage. However, if your baby has a tongue-tie, they cannot open their mouths wide enough to latch on properly. Therefore, breastfeeding becomes a challenge (2).
Treating Tongue-Tie
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If your little one has no issues with feeding, a tongue-tie need not be treated. However, if the condition affects their feeding, a simple procedure called Tongue Division, usually done by a doctor, nurse, or midwife, can treat it. Tongue division involves cutting the short, tight piece of skin that connects the bottom side of the tongue to the bottom of the mouth (3).
If your baby is only a few months old, the procedure is done without any anesthetic or a local anesthetic to numb your little one’s tongue. But if they have teeth, a general anesthetic is given to keep them unconscious during the procedure (4).
It’s a simple procedure and mostly painless. Most babies sleep through it, and others may cry a little. But the procedure usually improves feeding right away.
Now that we’ve understood the meaning of a tongue-tie, let’s look at what it means if your baby has a lip-tie.
Lip Tie: What Is It?
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A lip tie is a condition where the tissue, called the labial frenulum, that connects the upper lip to the gums is unusually tight, resulting in restrictive movement of the upper lip. To successfully breastfeed, a baby has to seal their lips around the nipple to form a secure latch. The nipple should go into the baby’s mouth entirely, which means the upper lip has to move enough to accommodate it. But if your baby has a lip tie, this movement becomes difficult and interferes with the ability to nurse (5).
If your baby has no issues with feeding, there is absolutely no need to treat a lip tie. In such cases, it is just a difference in anatomy, and it shouldn’t be treated as a severe problem. However, if your little one is having trouble latching on and feeding, you could try to fix their lip tie by treating it.
Treating Lip Tie
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Your first course of action should ideally not be to resort to a medical procedure. Consult a lactation expert and see if you can work it out without a procedure. They might suggest a few techniques that could help resolve feeding problems.
Another thing to consider is feeding your baby with a bottle instead of doing it directly. You could pump breast milk every two to three hours and store them in bottles, ready to feed your hungry baby.
But if you wish to treat a lip tie surgically, your baby has to do a lip revision procedure where the doctor will cut a small piece of tissue in the labial frenulum to loosen it. The procedure is simple and painless and can be done under local anesthesia (6).
Unlike a tongue division procedure, a lip revision shows very little evidence that the feeding problems go away after the procedure. In some cases, a lip tie may reoccur too. Therefore, it’s best not to opt for a lip revision and work with a lactation expert to regulate breastfeeding your baby (7).
These diagnoses may scare you, and that’s normal. But there’s nothing to worry about because, with the proper medical intervention, your baby will be nursing sooner than ever. Did you know what a tongue-tie and a lip tie were? Let us know in the comments below!
