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If your baby has a tongue tie, you may notice they struggle with latching during breast or bottle feeding and may click during feeds. These feeding difficulties can lead to shorter feeds and can cause pain for the mother.
Tongue tie division is a procedure that can be performed by our Paediatric Surgeon, assisted by one of our paediatric nurses. For children under 3 months of age, this procedure can usually be safely carried out in our paediatric clinic.
We are located at Charlwood, West Sussex, making us easily accessible to treat children near Crawley, Worthing, Chichester, Waterlooville, Havant, Portsmouth, Brighton, Dorking, Surrey, London, and all nearby areas.
Private tongue tie division surgery can be offered in babies who are having difficulty breastfeeding. This may have effects on the baby such as poor weight gain and unsettled feeding or for the mother with problems such as painful nipples and mastitis (infection or swelling of the nipples and breast). Before booking for a tongue-tie division it is important that feeding has been observed by a healthcare professional such as a midwife to ensure that there are no other causes.
Division of a baby’s tongue-tie can be carried out in the outpatient clinic in just a few minutes. A local anaesthetic is not usually needed as it can delay feeding immediately after the procedure. There are no nerve fibres in the tongue-tie, so it is not thought to be a painful procedure.
Your baby will be wrapped up and held in place by the nurse. The surgeon will separate the tongue-tie using a sterile pair of scissors. We encourage breastfeeding immediately after as this reduces bleeding after the procedure. It’s important to try and avoid feeding your baby for 2 hours before the procedure as we want you to feed immediately after.
Sometimes a little bleeding occurs after but this usually settles within about 5 minutes. Uncommonly babies can get an infection at the site of the procedure. The main risk of the procedure is a recurrence of the tongue tie over time.
It’s common to see a little white or yellow spot beneath the tongue for a day or two which disappears on its own. If you notice that your baby has a temperature, is excessively dribbling, or has poor feeding after the procedure, it could be signs of an infection and you should seek medical advice.
For some babies, breastfeeding improves very quickly after tongue-tie release. For others, it can take several feeds before an improvement is seen. Unfortunately, some babies who undergo a tongue-tie division may not have any improvement. It’s important to get further advice from your local breastfeeding support groups or from the person who referred you. We don’t routinely arrange another appointment, but you can contact us if you have any concerns.
We are located at Charlwood, West Sussex, making us easily accessible to treat children near Crawley, Worthing, Chichester, Waterlooville, Havant, Portsmouth, Brighton, Dorking, Surrey and all nearby areas.
Worried about your child's food allergies or eczema? Our specialist paediatric team is here to support you every step of the way.
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