Symptoms:

In a newborn or infant, the symptoms of tongue tie are similar to the symptoms in any child who is having problems with breast feeding, including:

• Acting irritable or fussy, even after feeding
• Difficulty creating or maintaining suction. The infant may become tired in 1 or 2 minutes, or fall asleep before eating enough.
• Poor weight gain or weight loss
• Problems latching onto the nipple. The infant may just chew on the nipple instead.

The breast-feeding mother may have problems with breast pain, plugged milk ducts, or painful breasts, and may feel frustrated.

Signs and tests:

Most experts do not recommend that health care providers examine newborns for tongue tie unless there are breast-feeding problems.

Most health care providers only consider tongue tie when:

• The mother and baby have had problems establishing breast-feeding
• The mother has received at least 2 to 3 days of support from a breast-feeding (lactation) specialist