Baby with tight frenulum. No tongue elevation present.

I met a darling baby last week who was obviously tongue tied. By obvious I mean that his tongue was not only visibly anchored to the floor of his mouth, but the mobility of his tongue was severely restricted. All signs indicated tongue tie. He cried frequently through the day with severe gas pains. He could not move his tongue side to side and there was almost no elevation when he cried. When he nursed, his tongue “snapped back” repeatedly. The snap back prevented him from keeping a strong vacuum at the breast, leading to noisy breastfeeding, slipping off the breast and sore nipples for mom. He was so noisy with smacking sounds and squeaky swallowing that his mom nicknamed him “Squeaker.” Continue reading →