Hey honey….
I thought I was fascinated with the breast but the tongue is quickly gaining speed. Let’s talk tongue ties for a sec.
What is it? The medical term is Ankyloglossia aka Tongue Ties are restrictions on the tongue that limits range of motion and strength.
These restrictions can create painful latching which can result in sore cracked nipples or NOT….I’ll get back to that…that can impact your babee’s breastfeeding relationship along with other symptoms.
👉🏽Clicking sounds during feeds
👉🏽babee hates tummy time
👉🏽slow weight gain
👉🏽low milk supply
👉🏽baby pops on and off the breast
👉🏽falls asleep at the breast frequently
👉🏽recurring plugged ducts and/or mastitis
Some ties pretty visual and some are not some babees can actually work so hard to drain milk they make it work without pain. So these babees can mask issues for awhile at least. Oral restrictions prevent your babee from draining the breasts efficiently. This is why a functional assessment of the tongue needs to be done.
But wait..🗣there’s levels to this ish, honey! 🤌🏽
1. So first step let’s find a lactation professional such as an IBCLC or lactation professional tie savvy. 🙋🏽♀️ Sometimes positioning and getting deeper latch works but if breastfeeding is painful we may have to dig deeper.
‼️Listen if anyone ever says
“The latch looks good”
“Babees gaining weight so nothing to worry about”
“It’s just a slight tie” 🥴
🚩🚩🚩 RUN
2. Bodywork is SOOOO important. Again your tongue may need strengthening from low muscle tone. Bodywork from Chiropractor/OTs/CSTs and others can help with strengthening the tongue BEFORE and after a tie release as well. Babees begin sucking incorrectly because of the restriction around 12 weeks in utero which creates a lot of body tension once outside of womb and it needs to be released first.
3. Next up if these remedies are not working or if a tie has been diagnosed a frenectomy will need to be done to correct the tethered oral tissue. Finding a competent provider to identify ALL ties and completely release them in important. We don’t want to do this again, honey!
Any of these symptoms sound familiar, honey? I’d love to help and help the continuum of care with the teamwork that @tonguetiecenteratl provides.