T was Tongue-tied. We found out on Wednesday when I went to a local breastfeeding group and asked why T was all of a sudden making a clicking sound when he fed. After a quick look, we found the issue.

What’s funny is that I have the same piece of skin between the jaw and tongue so never thought anything of it when I saw that T had it, but apparently that’s the tongue-tie (no wonder my mum couldn’t breastfeed me) and it can be passed on genetically. 

During the breastfeeding group I was given a number to call a tongue tie specialist at a local hospital so I called and made an appointment for the Friday.

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We arrived at the hospital and it wasn’t long after introductions, a brief outline as to the procedure and the signing of some paperwork that we got underway.

T was swaddled tightly to stop any wriggling and after a bit of poking and prodding it was done. It was very quick, although I was shocked no numbing agent was used considering an adult would apparently have to go under a general anaesthetic if they wanted it done. The procedure probably looked worse than it was, especially as T slept through the whole thing and only woke because he farted loudly. It still didn’t stop me welling up though.

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Now that I know T was tongue-tied it made perfect sense as to why he had issues with gas. The tongue-tie created a gap in T’s mouth when he fed which meant he took in extra air. There’s obviously still an issue with him dealing with gas but hopefully, now that the tongue-tie has been dealt with, it’ll deal with the extra air.

We were advised T probably wouldn’t notice anything after the procedure, however the night that followed was probably the worst one since he arrived. T fed every 40 minutes and wouldn’t be put in his Moses basket and would only sleep once on our chests. It was a long night.

The following day, everything was back to normal. T was back on his 3 hourly feeds and slept happily in his basket, and you know what? His clicking has certainly subsided.

K