Tongue Ties

A tongue tie is when a baby is born with the thin membrane of skin between the underside of the tongue and the base of the mouth is unusually short and restricts movement of the tongue. The baby may have trouble sticking their tongue out which can inhibit normal

breastfeeding

and affect the baby’s oral development. Breastfeeding can also be painful for the mother and lead to a failure to thrive and

colic

in babies. Tongue tie release surgery or a

frenotomy

is becoming more common however may not resolve the feeding issues. Tongue tie releases should be performed after consultation with a trained

paediatric surgeon

. Possible complications are bleeding, distress in the infant and the baby developing an

oral aversion

.