Tongue Tie Baby - My Personal Experience

I diagnosed a tongue tie in a 3 month old baby last week. 

This baby cried the whole appointment, even before I touched her. Her mom was in tears - she had no idea what to do. She said her nipples hurt when the baby feeds, but that she tries her hardest to push through. If it was not for Covid, I would have hugged this mother and cried with her.

She was me 7 years ago. I know exactly what this feels like. And I told her I will not let what happened to me happen to her.

When we’re pregnant, no one talks about what breastfeeding will be like. All I had in my head were these images of happy moms and babies feeding on the breast. It was supposed to be a beautiful and magical bond between mother and baby, and a time to truly cherish.

This was DEFINITELY not the case for me. I was in the hospital with both of my boys for 1 week, because they dropped their birth weight by 11% - they just weren’t getting enough milk and I couldn’t understand why.

My boys were big babies, and both the result of C-sections. I was assured by my doctors that it will take time, to just HANG IN THERE.

I struggled through breastfeeding for 6 months with my first son, and only lasted 3 months with my youngest. I felt like a failure. It was so painful, and I was feeding them constantly. My oldest would cry all the time and then throw everything up.

In dental school, we were taught that a tongue tie is when someone cannot stick out their tongue - in reality, this is NOT the case.

Over the last 4 years, I have been learning about tongue ties and tongue tie releases in adults, children, and infants.

Through this journey, I learnt that both my kids are tongue tied. I remember that day clearly because I had this weight lifted off of me and I actually cried for a while. IT WAS NOT MY FAULT! 🙌

The medical community let me down. They made me feel that it was MY fault for not being able to breastfeed my babies. They were both tongue tied, and my youngest had a lip tie as well.

I feel so fortunate to be in a position where I can help so many moms and babies. I never want another mother to feel the way I did.

Please share with me your experiences. We are all in this together 🙏🏻