Tucker's Tongue Tie Tongue Twister

Tucker was born severely tongue tied, it was the first thing the nurse said while assessing him at birth. At 2 1/2 weeks of age I took him to see a pediatric ENT who confirmed the tie and clipped his frenulum. Tucker did have better suction with his pacifier, but we still struggled with breastfeeding. He would also collapse bottle nipples of all flow speeds and varieties. He also always been a drooly baby, but that is hardly an indication of anything as he is a baby and drooling is normal.

In the last 6-8 months I have seen the limits of Tucker's tongue. He is unable to stick out his tongue to any degree, in fact I have never seen his tongue come past his bottom teeth. He tries to imitate me sticking out my tongue, but all he can do is curl the sides of his tongue. He has no elevation in the front or center. When he cries his tongue becomes rippled and again does not rise in the least. His tongue is not capable of reaching the roof of his mouth which will affect his ability to make the l, r, t, d, n, th, sh, and z correctly.

I called and scheduled a consultation with the pediatric ENT who clipped his original tie. My current suspicion is that he was born with both an anterior (front) and a posterior (back) tongue tied. The anterior tongue tie is easily seen and diagnosed whereas the posterior is harder to diagnose. If Tucker does indeed have a posterior tongue tie it is corrected by laser surgery, usually outpatient provided there are no complications. Then after a few days of recovery, some tongue stretching exercises, and possible speech therapy he should have all the lingual movements of a "normal" child.

I am not opposed to more conservative treatment such as speech therapy without surgery, but I do want an answer as I am certain something isn't correct where his tongue is concerned. I have waited, watched, and compared his tongue to other children for a year and he is definitely restricted. I think I am doing the right thing in having another consultation. I want to give him the best chance available in all aspects of life.

His appointment is Monday July 8th at 2pm. I could have been seen sooner, but my Mama will be here during that time and I will certainly need and want her support especially if Tucker does require surgery. She supported me during Tucker's first tongue clipping. Tucker slept through it and I cried, go figure.