The newborn phase can be an overwhelming experience. As parents ourselves, we understand the anxiety behind wanting to make the best decisions for our children. So, when a newborn is struggling to feed paired with maternal nipple pain, we know that this is a condition which needs intervention.
A common misconception with frenulectomies is that every child with a tight frenulum must have a reversal. The great news is that not every baby needs this procedure! Ankyloglossia is a functional diagnosis requiring symptomatic analysis to decide whether the procedure is necessary. Essentially, if both baby and mom lack symptoms, there is no clinical need to move forward with the procedure! While surgical release of a restrictive sublingual frenulum can be an effective intervention, it’s not always mandatory.
However, if maternal nipple pain and/or poor milk transfer cannot be corrected in a timely way through conservative measures, a shared decision between clinician and family often rule in favor of a frenulectomy procedure.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us at pediatrics@thewsps.com if you continue to struggle with painful nursing or believe that your baby may have frenulum restriction based on the following symptoms:
- Inability to stick out the tongue past the upper gums or touch the roof of the mouth
- Difficulty in moving the tongue from side-to-side, forward-and-back, or up-and-down
- A V-shaped notch at the tip of the tongue
- Trouble with licking or sucking
- Reflux
- Difficulty latching
- Insufficient weight gain
- Trouble with breathing during feeding
- The presence of clicking sounds while nursing
- Fatigue while nursing
- Colic
