TONGUE TIED TONGUE TIED

Learn how choosing to have her newborn’s tongue tie released gave this mom a brand new baby

Written by Andrea Millay // Photo by Jamie Plain

Just quit. No one will judge you for giving up. Formula today is so similar to breastmilk anyway. These are just a few of the comments I would hear when I tried to talk to people. I had breastfed before. My oldest son was exclusively breastfed for almost 15 months. Never an issue. It was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had as a mother. Being older this time, and my kids growing like weeds, the idea of having a newborn to nurse and bond with again was so exciting.

My excitement soon turned to devastation. I was experiencing crippling pain. My son was never content, always colicky. I was exhausted and felt defeated. I couldn’t find anyone who truly understood what I was going through, I was frustrated, and I was discouraged, so I reached out to anyone I knew who had breastfed before and asked about the issues I was having. I kept hearing the term, “tongue tie.”

One day I was at my older son’s birthday party. One of his friend’s mothers came to me expressing a concern about my, at the time, 1-month-old son, Ayken. She said she had noticed in my pictures on social media that Ayken was unable to close his mouth due to his tongue protruding out. I had noticed his tongue and thought it was a cute newborn feature. I had even made jokes about him being unable to close his mouth. Little did I know, there was a reason behind it, and that reason wasn’t cute. She examined my son’s mouth that day and expressed her concern about him being tongue tied pretty severely. She gave me the name to a local business that specializes in lactation/tongue ties, The Nurturing Nest Collective.

I called their office the next morning and took Ayken in to see them. We discussed the issues that I was seeing; painful nursing, nipple trauma, colic symptoms. He was examined closely and it was determined that he did in fact have a tongue tie. At this point, I still had little to no knowledge on tongue ties or how that would affect Ayken long term. Through my research and finally having the support of people who could answer my questions, I was astonished at what I found.

Tongue ties are one of the leading causes for mothers and babies to discontinue their breastfeeding journey. In the top of the mouth, a baby has a soft and hard palate. The nipple is supposed to enter a baby’s mouth and reach the top of the mouth, the soft palate. This allows for the baby to have a deep and correct latch. Tonguetied babies never achieve this deep and correct latch. Their ties create a shallow latch that results in issues for both mom and baby. Mom will experience nipple trauma, because the child is feeding only on the tip and with the hard palate part of their mouth. The child, never receiving a full latch, swallows a significant amount of air, trapping gas in their bellies and making them have colic.

Through my research, I also found that long term issues can arise from tongue ties. I immediately looked back on my first breastfeeding experience with my oldest daughter that made me quit when she was 3 months old. She struggled with mouth breathing that led to multiple ear infections, tubes at 9 months, is now getting a palate expander, and will spend 3 years in braces. I was a brand new mom. I didn’t have anything to compare my experience to, so I quit. Since, I have found out she, too, has a tongue tie. For the next couple of weeks, I worked closely with The Nurturing Nest Collective and gathered as much information as I could on tongue ties, leading me to the educated decision to have Ayken’s tongue tie released. At 2 months old, Ayken was referred to a dentist in Morganfield, Kentucky. They did an outpatient procedure where they used a laser to treat not only a severe tongue tie, but two cheek ties, and two lip ties. Immediately following Ayken’s procedure, I took home a brand new baby. The nipple trauma I had experienced was completely gone. Ayken, now receiving a full latch, was no longer colicky, and he was beginning to gain substantial weight. He went from always fussing and eating to one of the happiest babies I have ever personally met.

As a new mom, you don’t receive your baby along with a book telling you all the issues/concerns/possibilities you may come across with raising a child. All you can do is rely on your instincts and to educate yourself by asking others. So, if you are a new mom experiencing something similar, an experienced mom looking back on the past, or an adult still searching for answers, I hope Ayken’s story brings you hope. OP