A condition, in which the upper lip of babies is attached with the gums, is known as lip tie. In this condition, lip movement becomes almost impossible and causes difficulty in breastfeeding for the baby.
Frenulum is the piece of tissue or membrane behind the upper lip that is too stiff and attached to the gum line and due to this you cannot move your lips. This condition leads to lip tie which makes breathing difficult for babies while breast feeding.
This article highlights the lip tie issue and its diagnosis and treatment.
Symptoms:
Babies with lip tie or tongue tie experience difficulty in breastfeeding which is most common symptom that indicates this condition. The other symptoms include:
- Difficulty to grip on to the breast
- Breathing difficulty during breast feeding
- Sleeping during feeding
- Feeling fatigued during feeding
- Lack of weight gain
- Gas problem or colic
Mothers of babies who have lip tie condition, experience pain or discomfort in breasts during or after breastfeeding and also feel fatigued after nursing.
Complications:
Babies with lip tie are less likely to face complications in later life. According to researches and experts consultants, children with this condition are unable to put gain and also feel difficulty in eating finger foods or eating with spoon. According to some pediatricians, babies with it may experience tooth decay when they become toddlers.
This condition becomes challenging and complicated if it is ignored and gets untreated. It prevents babies from gaining weight and this effects their physical health.
Diagnosing in babies:
The key for diagnosing lip tie in babies is watching their upper lip’s movement. There must be a quick diagnosis when the child has problem in breastfeeding and lacking weight gain. If child cannot properly move upper lip and feels discomfort and difficulty in breastfeeding, this means there is some problem and that needs to be diagnosed and treated properly. Lip tie otherwise causes difficulty in later life as in toddlers, it causes tooth decay. Consultants and experts suggest that diagnosing is very crucial because child experiences difficulty in breathing during it and this becomes more uncomfortable with the passage of time and effects child’s growth.
How to feed a child with a lip tie:
Lip tie makes feeding process difficult for both baby and nursing mother. To feed a baby with lip tie you must consult a pediatrician. You should make latching for baby easier and comfortable. Consult with lactation expert so that they will give you proper latching strategies. Also you must soften your breast with baby saliva before breast feeding so that child can easily latch onto your breast. You can also use bottle for feeding for the practice.
If breastfeeding becomes easy then your child will feel comfortable and also gains weight after breastfeeding. A lactation consultant can also be very helpful for you to make your baby breastfeed easily.
Treatment:
It requires therapies and techniques to deal with breastfeeding difficulty.
- Level 1 and 2 types of lip tie does not require any special procedure for improving breastfeeding or gaining weight. These types can be managed through practicing some strategies.
- Level 3 or level 4 type of lip tie requires a procedure done by pediatrician known as frenectomy.
- A frenectomy technique is done by a laser or surgical scissor to operate the membrane that connects with gumline. This procedure does not require anesthesia.
- During frenectomy procedure, the Child may feel some discomfort but not as much.
- Experts tell that this procedure is very beneficial and this has been successfully conducted on many patients with breastfeeding difficulty. This improves breastfeeding of children with lip tie. Many researches are conducted which show the positive impacts of frenectomy.
The Takeaway:
it is a condition that can be handled or treated with the help of pediatrician or lactation consultant. You can consult your pediatrician about weight gain of your child and can monitor the weight accordingly. it can become challenging if gets untreated. So there are many techniques and therapies that help with breastfeeding difficulty. it helps to live better healthy style.
