[arkansas parent]

Anyone elses baby/child tongue tied? We were told baby A's wasn't bad enough to be clipped, but now I'm worried it should have been. He wasn't able to stick his tongue out until 5 mo. Now that his 2 bottom teeth are in all the way he can't stick it out again. Can toddlers/older kids have it clipped? ( I would only consider it if it cause major speech issues theapy couldn't fix)

[mrskt]

Anya is tongue-tied too. Dr at CC told us that they wouldn't clip it unless she couldn't get it out past her teeth/lips. She can, so they are just watching it. If it starts to cause speech issues, they'll send her over to ENT, I think, to have it clipped.

[arkansas parent]

I am hoping he just hasn't figured out how to get it over his teeth. (I know wishful thinking)

[lotsa_love_2give]

My nephew was born tongue tied, but no one noticed it. I was in anatomy and physiology and learned about the frenulum on tongue tied kids went all the way to the tip. Then, I noticed that my nephews tongue didn't come to a point it was stubby and started to have a cleft in it. I looked under it and he was tongue tied. So, we went to the Ped. and he said he wouldn't worry unless it there were speach issues.

He's three now and it's slowly torn itself away from the tip. He does, however, still have the cleft type tongue which may give him issues pronouncing some words.

DH has a cleft in his tongue which I'm thinking is from when he had his frenulum to the tip of his tongue.

[feelingreyt]

Both of my bios were born with short frenulums. I didn't even know my dd was tongue tied until after my son was born! His was much worse. When he was 12 months old, he needed tubes in his ears. The ENT clipped his frenulum at the same time he inserted the tubes.
My dd is 9 yrs old and hers has caused no problems at all. She has never had a speech problem nor does her tongue have an indention. She is lucky that she has a very mild case.

ETA: My children are the only ones in my family that I know to have this condition. I wonder what in the world causes it.

[Nevada Jen]

My DS is tongue tied. No one caught it until preschool when it was very obvious he could not speak as clearly as other children. We are going to try a few more months of speech therapy but if he doesn't make huge strides soon we will be getting it clipped. At 4 now, he is upset by the fact that people can't understand him.

[danhanan]

I babysat a little guy who was tongue tied. He couldn't lick his lips and his speech could have been better. What I notice was most difficult for him was trying to eat certain foods. e had the worst time with poultry, I guess because it gets "stringy" when you start to chew it. He preferredhot dogs because they were easier for him to swallow.

[jjlutefisk]

My son had his frenulum clipped when he was about 4. I wish I had had it done earlier because he learned how to say some words with his tongue in the wrong position and he needed speech therapy until 1st grade. It was a very minor and quick procedure and definitely worth it for his self esteem and clarity in speaking. He's 13 now and has a very clear voice.

[arkansas parent]

How do they clip it? Do they put them to sleep or just numb the area?

[Sleeplvr]

My son was tongue tied. We had it clipped when he was somewhere between 12 months and 18 months old. We finalized his adoption when he was 18 months old and I know we did it while he was still a foster child.
He's 4 years old now and I think he needs speech therapy my DH thinks he doesn't. We can understand when he talks but he has a lisp and trips over words sometimes. His tongue is very short. It didn't go past his teeth before it was cut. Now it can go out to his lips but not past them.

They do twilight sleep for that surgery. General is too much for such a quick surgery.

[Nevada Jen]

Sleep, if he is 4 a strangers can't understand him, he will qualify for speech therapy. The school district here said you should be able to understand everything a kid says by age 3.5 (and its not like they are happy to be giving out free services). I really did not think my son would qualify because he has an adult vocabulary and uses huge sentences but he qualified on understandability alone. I would have him evaluated. It now really bothers him that people can't understand him and I am kicking myself for not doing something about it sooner.

[Sleeplvr]

Jen

Strangers can understand him. I'm just not sure if he's able to manipulate his tongue correctly for certain sounds. Most words are really clear and others are a little off. I have a friend named Heather and he calls her Header. Don't beat yourself up about it. I just took DD to the Orthopedics because of her feet. I should have done it long before now. Turns out the bones in her legs have a 30 degree twist. They don't do orthopedic shoes or braces for that anymore... you grow out of it or you don't. Kind of interesting that things they used to treat when I was a kid are not treated anymore.

Good luck with your son. He'll do fine with speech therapy.

[Sleeplvr]

I forgot to mention that my son didn't really start talking until after the frenulum was clipped. So we really had no choice but to do it at the time we did.