Frenotomy is a Safe and Effective Procedure
We all have a band of tissue under our tongue that connects to the floor of our mouth called the lingual frenulum. When that tissue is too short, too tight, or too far forward, it impacts tongue movement and can be called restrictive. Tongue tie in newborn infants can lead to pain with breastfeeding, feeds that take a long time due to poor milk transfer or poor latch, reflux symptoms from swallowing air, or poor weight gain for babies. All these things make mealtimes stressful for mom and baby, but we can help.
Schedule an Evaluation
Metro Pediatrics offers Lactation Consultants for optimized breastfeeding and nutrition, and we welcome your call if you have any concerns. After skilled lactation help, if we feel a release is needed, our frenotomy-trained pediatricians will perform the simple procedure quickly in our office. Mom and baby will soon be on their way to successful breastfeeding. If you would like to discuss this procedure with your provider, call 833-PDX-KIDS.
What is a Frenotomy?
Frenotomy, also known as tongue clipping, is a surgical procedure to release tethered oral tissues that may be impacting breastfeeding. Lingual frenotomy is considered for infants having trouble establishing breastfeeding, not gaining weight, or whose mothers are having continued pain that’s not improving after help from a lactation specialist. Good candidates are babies under 2 months old who have already received their vitamin K shot and been seen by lactation to rule out other reasons breastfeeding may not be going well. Feeding difficulties often improve and birth weight will increase after more effective breastfeeding. We encourage parents to call their lactation consultant 3-5 days after a frenotomy to check the wound and work on positioning and latch. Your pediatrician may have specific exercises to promote healing after a frenotomy procedure. They will discuss these with you at your visit.
The procedure itself takes just a few seconds and mom can feed the baby right after. Sometimes this first feed feels better right away with increased tongue mobility, but improvement can also take time and continued work with a lactation consultant.
Benefits
- Improved latch/infant breastfeeding
- Better transfer of milk
- Reduced maternal nipple pain
- Possible improved speech/articulation in the child’s later years
Risks
- Possible excessive bleeding at the incision site
- Infection
- Salivary gland trauma
- Reattachment
- Possibility of no improvement in latching/breastfeeding
