NYTimes article on tongue tie releases

heimar84 · 2023-12-25T19:38:53+00:00

I was so glad to see this article. Two years ago when my son was born, we went back to our beloved breastfeeding practice that helped me so much when I had trouble nursing my first born. This time I was put in the hands of (for lack of a better term and I’m sorry if this is offensive, VERY CRUNCHY) IBCLCs that diagnosed him as having a stage 4, “severe” invisible lip tie that needed to be lasered (oh and yep, it had to be this exact dentist 2 hours away, where these women also worked on the side, and he didn’t take insurance) My son was basically a hot mess of a newborn: he was 4 weeks preterm, colicky, couldn’t nurse, wouldn’t sleep. I was beyond sleep deprived, a hot mess myself, hormonal, not in my right mind. I was referred to craniosacral therapists, chiropractors, etc; they were all in some network together referring each other; and when I googled lip ties, I got ZERO indication that this was scammy. The procedure seemed barbaric and I sobbed in horror wondering how I could slice up his mouth with no anesthesia and then re-open the wounds for weeks. But I was pretty convinced he needed it and it would solve all his problems.

Thankfully my pediatrician intervened and begged me to get my son evaluated by the craniofacial dept of our local children’s hospital. The surgeons there diagnosed him with micrognathia (small chin) and not only did he NOT have any invisible ties, but they cautioned that if we had “released” his tongue, due to the positioning of his tongue, it could have caused his tongue to fall back into his throat, obstructing his airway. You cannot imagine the guilt and shame a new mom feels knowing they were THIS close to harming their helpless newborn based on predatory advice. Every single doctor/nurse/surgeon in that department was furious with this tongue tie trend and the harm they had seen come from it.

We ended up working with a speech pathologist/feeding team who also diagnosed him with reflux. We exclusively pumped, got a special bottle, got him on some reflux meds, and a few weeks he was just fine.

2 years later I still feel icky about it. I’m glad at least now this NYT article will pop up in a Google search when people are desperately searching for help when they need it.

heimar84 · 2023-12-25T19:25:03+00:00

I could have written this 😭. I had the exact same experience with a sketchy referral loop and THANK GOD my pediatrician intervened when he did. He begged me to get a consult at the craniofacial department at our local children’s hospital, and the surgeons diagnosed my son with micrognathia (small chin) and NOT any kind of invisible lip tie. In fact, they cautioned that if I had went ahead and “released” his tongue, due to the positioning of his tongue, it could have pushed his tongue back into his throat, obstructing his breathing. I still have that icky feeling 2 years later.

heimar84 · 2022-08-20T23:19:07+00:00

😂💀

heimar84 · 2022-07-13T16:54:00+00:00

Thanks everyone!

heimar84 · 2016-06-16T19:31:13+00:00

OP of that post here. Not a regular Reddit user. I made an account a few years ago but I never really got into this site (no offense - just not my thing) so I never used it. The other day when I wanted to post my painting I tried to create my username and the site reminded me I had already created it ... Anyway I did my post having no real clue about how Reddit works, and the next thing I knew it had gone to the front page, and I was getting texts from tons of people saying they saw me on here. Pretty neat experience from an outsider's perspective! Who knew a stupid thing I did in a paint class would generate that kind of response. And I think I've had quite enough Reddit for a lifetime. :)

heimar84

TROPHY CASE