Today there are many causes that can make breastfeeding fail. Not only do we meet people who give us their opinion about how little breast milk feeds, but sometimes a tongue-tie can make us think they are right. This alteration occurs when the baby is born with the frenulum too short or inflexible, which causes that you cannot move your tongue freely when sucking.
Although the most common option is to cut the frenulum, there are many pediatricians who prefer to do a previous monitoring of the baby. If even though the baby has a short frenulum, he is able to suckle well and gains weight properly, cutting it will not be necessary for the moment.. In many women, the breast is flexible and moldable, so that the baby can adapt it to his mouth. And if, hopefully, the baby's tongue is flexible, he will be able to learn to breastfeed without problems. If, on the other hand, the pediatrician sees that the frenulum is a hindrance, he will cut it. To detect it there are a series of signs and symptoms presented:
- The mother's breast and nipples are cracked due to the poor grip of the newborn.
- The baby does not gain weight and you may lose it.
- The baby is not able to hold the milk in his mouth; it overflows from the corners of his lips.
- It is not satiated in the feedings and sometimes refuses the food or gets stressed when breast.
- Popping at the time of suckling with tongue and mouth.
- Gastrointestinal symptoms, such as: nausea, reflux, colic, gas ...
As a general rule, most pediatricians will perform a frenotomy at the time of a short frenulum.. It is a very quick and simple technique that does not require stitches and is rarely complicated. In the case of not having done this mild intervention before 8 months and the tongue tie continues to cause problems, a somewhat more complex intervention will be necessary, so the recommendation of pediatricians is to cut it before to avoid long-term problems.
And although there are many symptoms that can make us doubt whether our baby has a short frenulum, not all times this alteration is a problem for suction; As we have seen at the beginning, it is possible that the frenulum adapts by gaining flexibility. The most important is try to continue breastfeeding as much as possible and request help from your pediatrician and midwives. That a short frenulum does not mean the end of something so magical for your baby and for you.