My name is Marissa Delwiche, and I’m the mom to two beautiful boys, Wesley (currently 3) and Bradley (currently 14 months). Both of my boys are what you would consider physiologically normal and have no known health issues – unless you considering their refusal to chill out at bed time an issue!
I have to admit that prior to having Bradley just a little more than a year ago, I knew nothing about tongue ties. So my husband and I were surprised when our pediatrician diagnosed Bradley with just that. Wasn’t tongue-tied just an expression for someone who had a hard time finding the right words? Turns out it’s much more than an expression.
When we first heard about the tongue tie, we were skeptical. None of my mom friends were talking about this. I Googled it, like any good couch-doctor does, and was a little confused because Bradley didn’t present in the way I was seeing online. To my surprise, after asking around a bit, I learned that our dentist knew a thing or two about tongue ties. So, off to the dentist we went.
Dr. Graham noticed that Bradley had not just a tongue tie, but also a lip tie. While no parent wants to hear that their baby has a problem, we were so reassured learning more about the intricacies of a tongue/lip tie, what diagnosis entails (turns out it’s more intensive than just me looking under my baby’s tongue :/ ), and some of the tell-tale signs of a baby with tie issues. They all fit for Bradley: gassy, trouble feeding, frustration any time he was nursing, etc. At this point, we were convinced of the issue and its validity. Given the depth of knowledge and concern we received at the dental office, we decided to ask if they offered treatment options. We were made so much more comfortable knowing that Bradley could undergo the procedure with minimal discomfort.
Untethered seemed to have more technologically-advanced equipment than the ped office, which was more than just a nice-to-have. After Bradley’s tongue tie procedure, he had no problem falling right to sleep as though nothing happened. That gave us great peace of mind, knowing that he wasn’t in any kind of pain or discomfort.
The next couple weeks, we were diligent about keeping up with his exercises and stretches. If I’m being totally honest, staying on top of the therapies afterwards is the trickiest part. Life is busy, we let our guard down, etc. It has helped to download an app, set reminders on our phones and get the whole family in on the routine to make it seem more fun. Definitely a work in progress for us! My parting wisdom, aside from avoiding Google as a means of evaluating your child’s health, is this:
Ask questions, get informed and work with a dentist you trust. In our case, this has made the biggest difference. Good luck to you all!