Tongue Ties, Lip Ties and CranioSacral Therapy (CST)

Tongue and lip ties are actually genetic.  If you or your significant other has a tongue or lip tie, the chance that your kids have them too is pretty high.  I actually have a stage 3 tongue tie which was something I had never known.  When we took my youngest for a consult the doctor could tell just by the way I talked, even before she looked in my mouth.

Both my kids have tongue ties, and my youngest also had a lip tie.  Not sure about my oldest as it didn't cause any issues breastfeeding or with milk transference and gaining weight.  We did have it revised for my youngest because when she would nurse, you could hear a clicking sound and she was swallowing too much air which made her stomach hurt.  The procedure was very quick.  Depending on the place you go, you either have it fixed with a laser or with scissors.  The tongue and lip tie for my daughter was very minor so we had it removed with scissors.

The one important thing after the procedure is making sure you are doing the exercises every four houses.  That includes during the night.  I'm not saying wake your baby, but if your little one wakes up to nurse in the middle of the night, do the exercises then.  If your baby sleeps through the night, you still can probably do them in a lesser sense.  It'll just be more of a little massage or a small bit of pressure just to make sure the tissue doesn't reattach.  In addition to the exercises, we also did CST which stands for CranioSacral Therapy.  We had started it before the procedure and continued with a few sessions after the procedure.  To explain it briefly, it is basically baby massage or a light-touch approach to releasing pressure and tensions in the body.

When my youngest was born she had tightness in one side and you could tell because when she slept her head would always turn to one direction and she actually could roll to her side at 3 days old.  Babies that young should not be able to do that and it was terrifying and worrisome that she could potentially roll over.  My oldest at one month old was able to hold her head up by herself for short periods of time.  At the time we just thought she was advanced but later realized she had tightness in her neck as well.

Diagnosing whether your little one has a tongue/lip tie should be done by an IBCLC or someone that specializes in tongue and lip ties.  Most pediatricians cannot recognize the issue or say it is something that should not inhibit milk transference or stomach issues.  The reason we did not get it fixed with my oldest is because we did not identify it until she was about 4 months old and she wasn't having any issue with breastfeeding.  She did have a shallow latch but because it didn't bother me or her, it wasn't something that we felt needed to be fixed.  Our IBCLC actually advised us not to do it.  She only suggests having a tie revised if it is absolutely necessary for both the mom and the baby.

Keep in mind that I am not a medical professional.  This is simply me sharing what we did with both my kiddos.