The most common signs that can help identify the baby's stuck tongue and are most easily seen when the baby is crying are:
- The curb, called a frenulum, of the tongue is not visible; Difficulty raising the tongue to the upper teeth; Difficulty moving the tongue sideways; Difficulty putting the tongue out of the lips; Tongue in the shape of a knot or heart when the child puts it out; the baby bites the mother's nipple instead of sucking it; the baby eats poorly and is hungry shortly after breastfeeding; the baby is unable to gain weight or grows more slowly than expected.
The stuck tongue, also called the short tongue brake or ankyloglossia, occurs when the piece of skin, which is below the tongue, known as the brake, is shorter and tighter, making it difficult for the tongue to move.
However, the stuck tongue is curable through surgery, which can be frenotomy or frenectomy, and it is not always necessary because, in some cases, the stuck tongue disappears spontaneously or does not cause problems.
Possible complications
The tongue stuck in the baby can cause problems with breastfeeding, as the baby has a harder time to mouth the mother's breast properly, biting the nipple instead of sucking it, which is very painful for the mother. By interfering with breastfeeding, the stuck tongue also causes the baby to eat poorly, becoming hungry very quickly after breastfeeding and not gaining the expected weight.
In older children, stuck tongue can cause the child's difficulty in eating solid foods and interferes with tooth development, such as the appearance of a space between the 2 lower front teeth. This condition also hinders the child to play wind instruments, such as flute or clarinet and, after the age of 3, impairs speech, as the child tends to be unable to speak the letters l, r, n and z.
How the treatment is done
The treatment of the stuck tongue is only necessary when the baby's feeding is affected or when the child has speech problems, and consists of surgery to cut the tongue brake, in order to allow the movement of the tongue.
Tongue surgery is quick and discomfort is minimal, since there are few nerve endings or blood vessels in the tongue brake, and after surgery, it is possible to feed the baby normally. Find out more about how the surgery is done to treat a stuck tongue and when it is indicated.
Speech therapy for the tongue is also recommended when the child has speech difficulties, and after surgery, through exercises that improve the movement of the tongue.
Causes of the tongue stuck in the baby
The stuck tongue is a genetic alteration that occurs during the formation of the baby during pregnancy and can be caused by hereditary conditions, that is, due to certain genes that are transmitted from parents to children. However, sometimes it has no cause and occurs in babies without cases in the family, which is why there is a tongue test, performed on newborns in hospitals and maternity hospitals, which is used to assess the frenulum of the tongue.
