Could this be due to her being born 3 weeks early!! Tongue tied?!?

Question

Ok so this didnt cross my mind until I answered a question just now..but my little girl was born three weeks early and the only complications she had was that her nerve endings werent developed all the way so she would shake and her limbs would turn purple and she had a small breathing issue but they all worked themselves out!! But...she was born tongue tied (not sure the medical tern for it) the thing under her tongue is connected to the very tip of her tongue!! Anyone know if this is genetic or if it could possibly be due to her being born early!!!? Anyone else have a child that is tongue tied...what is going to be done about it, was your baby born early, is it genetic and does anyone know the medical term for it!?! Sorry lots of questions!!! Thanks in advance for all answers!!!

Answer 1

No this would not b/c she was born at 37 weeks!

Answer 2

My sister was born tongue tied and she was full term. She had a little bit of a speech delay, but she had a speech therapist that came and worked with her when she was a toddler to get her on the same level as kids her age. She had to get a little dental surgery where they basically snip the thing under the tongue when she was older (about 2 or 3 years old). She is 14 now and very healthy and fine and talks normal. Everyone was so worried about why she wouldn't talk and it was luckily only due to her being tongue tied.

Also a friend of mine I grew up with was born tongue tied but he never had speech problems so they didn't give him to procedure.

It's pretty normal, in fact there was an article about it in a recent Parents magazine. I think it's pretty common so hopefully that will ease your mind a little bit. Just follow any advice your Doctor gives and if there is a delay with speech a speech therapist will do wonders.

Here is a link to the La Leche site with an article on it:

http://www.llli.org/NB/NBMarApr06p64.htm...

Maybe you can get a second opinion? If the baby is having trouble feeding it seems as though that would be a big reason to do the procedure.

Hope this helps!

Answer 3

I don't know about being genetic but no it's probably not from her being born early. It's just how she is. Many babies are born early and not born tongue tied, and many are born late or on time and are tongue tied.

She'll be fine, all they will do is a simple procedure and clip it back and she'll be fine. If it's not clipped it will lead to eating problems, sucking problems and speech problems. So if you haven't talked to your baby's doctor yet than you need to soon. The sooner it is taken care of the better, with it she can't suck properly and wont get adequate nutrition.

Good Luck and congrats on your new baby.

Edit: Thats bull. If her eating is being affected then she needs to have it fixed. Especially since you can't BF with it. I would talk to another doctor. A friend of mine had a baby last year and the baby had hers clipped around the 3-4 week mark. So I would call b.s. and talk to another doctor.

Answer 4

My friends baby was early and was tongue tied but I'm not sure if it was due to him being early but the doctor will just snip that part later on.

Answer 5

Nope it isn't caused by being 3 weeks early which is considered full-term.  It is just something that happens to some babies.  They don't know what causes it, it just happens during the development.  Sounds like a mild birth-defect caused the problems at birth.  The only baby in my family that was born with the "tongue tied" was born at 41 weeks.  

Answer 6

i don't know what the "cause" of tongue tie is, but i do have indirect experience. my cousin had a baby girl in december, 6 weeks early, and she was also tongue tied. again, i don't know if the prematurity and tongue tie are related, but she had a similar situation. they DID do the "snip" when the baby was not able to latch on, and it did NOT change anything. after the cut, she still couldn't latch. so it likely is not worth it. my cousin has resorted to pumping like crazy as after the snip, a lactation consultant, and a bf-ing group, the baby's latch did not improve.

regardless...congrats on the new baby!