You must be aware of tongue tie where the baby’s frenum grows too short and thick. A frenum is a fleshy part underneath the tongue. As it is deemed common knowledge that tongue ties tend to affect breastfeeding, you must be wondering if lip tie in toddlers have the same effect as well. Here is everything that you need to know.
What is a lip tie?
Here’s how to find a lip tie. Put your tongue behind your upper lip. You will feel the fleshy part that is connected to the top lip to your upper gums in front of your teeth. This is your labial frenum. When it grows a little thicker than usual, it is referred to as a lip tie. Everyone has a labial frenum. Some infants tend to have a thicker one than others, but it grows gradually and becomes thinner with age. Hence, doctors hesitate to deem irregular labial frenums as lip ties. And at this present time, there is no criteria to differentiate between a problematic and a harmless labial frenum. So until and unless the labial frenum is causing a problem, your doctor will deem it as an issue or suggest you to take an action.
Do lip ties affect breastfeeding in any way?
There are still many debates on this. It is considered that the tongue ties tend to restrict the movement of the tongue and hence, can impact the infant’s ability to breastfeed, or take a bottle or a dummy and as the baby ages, the tongue tie can make it hard for a child to swallow the solids as well. However, doctors still don’t agree on the extent to which the lip ties can impact the breastfeeding babies and their mothers. You might be known to the fact that for a baby you need to breastfeed properly so that he drinks most of the milk and your nipples have the least of damage as well. Both the lips need to be flagged out in a way as if your baby is making a square shape with their mouth. The best part about it is that you only have to flange out the lower lip. The upper lip can be kept in a neutral position and your baby will still need to breastfeed. So, if your baby has a lip tie, they can still make the most of the nutrients and antibodies from your breast milk and the milk production will not be impacted at all.
