Partial tongue tie

[clairebear22]

Hey everyone

My Jack has been diagnosed with a partial tongue tie

It's basically affecting his speech because he's 23mths and can't say any words yet and he has trouble eating any foods bigger than bite size. He can't even bite a piece off of a sandwich, his tongue affects his bite. I should have spotted it a lot earlier but didn't.

He has to see a specialist surgeon and will probably need an operation to correct it and then hopefully he'll be able to catch up with his peers speech wise.

He also has a 2 year check on Tuesday to check he's ok developmentally which we're sure he is.

I'm going to document his progress in here as we go along. Feel free to follow it too x

 

[Nurse 26]

Oh no poor jack, hope you get it sorted soon, i had no idea tounge tie could affect speech and things. X

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[clairebear22]

Neither did I but it has with him. He's a bright little boy though so i'm sure he'll catch up quickly x

 

[TaffyRose]

Ah bless him. Max had a really severe tongue tie which was spotted at birth but we still needed to fight hard to get it snipped. I still am concerned he is maybe partially tongue tied as he's never stuck his tongue out but thought that might be just because he doesn't realise he can. I intend to ask at Max's 1 year review but wondered if Jack still babbled at all but just can't form actual words? Max is getting quite chatty and tries to speak xxx

 

[clairebear22]

The only sounds Jack makes is 'gah' & 'uh' and he can say Dadad but very very rarely and you can see he has to think about it. He squeals a lot though.

Can Max drink from a straw and can he pucker his lips to kiss you or can he blow? They're classic signs of it too. Jack can't do any and can't lick his lips either.

The only reason we discovered it was because I forgot his beaker at my Cousins wedding on Sunday so he had to drink from a glass. Daddy didn't tip the glass enough so he stuck his tongue in the glass (first time he'd ever poked it out) and it was very short and was heart shaped on the end. We then took him to the HV on Sunday but they wouldn't look in his mouth so we took him to the Docs this morning who didn't need to look very hard before diagnosing it.

Most kids with a partial still go on to speak and don't need it fixed or the tie tears naturally. I'd say if Max is making lots of different sounds, especially sounds you need to put the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth to say then he should be fine.

Get it checked though if you're concerned xx

 

[Gayle30]

Awe I hope they sort it out soon for him. My brother and I were only chatting about this the other day. Hes 28 and has a full tongue tie. Back in the day they didnt snip it unless it affected eating. As my hungry 6ft2inch little brother never had any issue they didnt do anything-although my mum recalls bf being a fail as he couldnt latch.

Hes asked to have it snipped now but the gp is reluctant to refer him as he would need extensive speech and language therapy as he is an adult. The only reason he wants it done is just so he can stick it out which to ne honest is a crap reason, but to him i guess it's important. He seems to think that he wont need therapy afterwards but he will as the full tie will make different sounds to what it would sound like with a free tongue!

Im sure getting it snipped early on in life is the key. Good luck little man xxxx

tapatalking

 

[clairebear22]

Thanks Gayle. It's great how most kids (like your Bro) find their own way to compensate. Jack has compensated pretty well for eating but he can't bite even a piece of sandwich. We have to cut it into 4 squares then each square into 4 more so it's small enough for him to eat otherwise he just chews on it and gives up. We just assumed it's because I've always cut it that way he just prefers it like that.

We wouldn't have taken him to get it diagnosed if it wasn't stopping him from talking because as you say people with a full tie manage so he should be able to but can't.

I can't wait to hear his first words

I'll be updating this thread as he goes along x

 

[Vickyxx]

How did his two year check go hun? Any news on when he will be seeing a specialist?

 

[clairebear22]

We didn't go to the check due to his cold/cough. I didn't think it was fair for a strange lady to do 'tests' on him when he's not 100%.

No we've not had news about the specialist yet. The Doc said we'd get a letter in a few weeks. He's starting to get frustrated now because he can't explain what's wrong, he can only show us. Like this morning he kept shouting and grumbling at my phone, he came and gave it to me moaning and it took me a minute to realise it was on silent. He should be able to use a few words to tell me but can't bless him x

 

[Mrs CW]

My LO had tongue tie which was diagnosed at birth but not snipped as he could latch. At the age of 9months I realised that I had never seen him stick his tongue out (we were with his friends and they were all sticking their tongues out), I couldn't believe I'd never noticed that he hadn't done it! Thinking back when he breastfed he would only feed for about 5 mins before falling asleep and struggled to take a bottle, it took him 20mins to drink 4oz and I wonder if this was due to the tie. I also notice when he was eating he couldn't move his tongue to one side and meal times were a bit of a struggle for him. We were referred to the hospital and a week before his appointment he stuck his tongue out for the first time! The hospital told us that he probably broke the tie himself through a fall or something. He is definitely more vocal now (he doesn't stop talking!) and he's constantly eating! I hope that Jacks tie is sorted soon and from experience they definitely catch up quickly x

 

[clairebear22]

Thanks for that hun! x

 

[clairebear22]

Just updating .....

We heard nothing for weeks so I called the surgeons secretary yesterday to see what was happening and was told to leave it with her and she'll call me back. We'd heard nothing this morning so OH calls and apparently he's never even been put on their system!! We'd never have been seen if we hadn't of called up!!! Livid is not the word!!!

Anyway he got put through to her secretary at our local hospital (she travels around) and he had an appointment within half an hour!!!

It's 1st August at 12.50pm, it's just a consultation whereI guess she'll look at his tongue/mouth etc. We're so glad we called and are not making progress because he's now back on blended food he gags on whole food even foods he's eaten fine before. It's like as his mouth is growing he's struggling more and more The plus side to the food is he's eating far more than he ever has so will hopefully start gaining weight because he's only 24lbs bless him x

 

[Vickyxx]

So glad you finally have an appointment date, bloody hospitals are rubbish at times!! Fingers crossed now that you won't have to wait long for the operation x

 

[clairebear22]

Thanks hun!

I'm over the moon with him, he's gained 4 pounds in just over 3 weeks since he's been back on blended mushy food!! He only gained 1lb in the whole of 2012! Makes me more confident i'm doing the right thing x

 

[Katied1]

Did you get his tongue tie rectified Hun? My LO ( also called Jack ) has a tongue tie too x

 

[clairebear22]

Hiya. Yes he had it snipped last Thursday. All went well although watching him fall asleep was awful. He's already eating differently (chewing his food more and eating on both sides instead of just the right side) but I think he gets jaw ache from the chewing because he used to chew a little bit then swallow big lumps so he's not eating huge amounts at the moment. He'll get there though.

No words yet but it's early days. We have his 2 year 3 months check on 15th so we're hoping to get him some help.

Is your Jack's a full tie? Get it snipped sooner rather than later as it's a much easier procedure x

 

[Katied1]

He has a moderate tongue tie but the NHS won't do it as he's never been able to breast feed. I've contacted a private tongue tie specialist and she's coming to do the procedure tomorrow x

 

[clairebear22]

That's fantastic!! I hope your feeding troubles go away!! x