Encouraging daily tummy time from the first month of life not only helps develop core strength to support the spine later in life, develop neck strength to support a growing head but it can also help encourage a retracted tongue to move forward by extension.
After a tongue-tie devision, tummy time is a full body approach with the extension position helping to improve oral function.
A tongue-tie is often misdiagnosed especially if the tie isn’t easily visible-posterior.
A large number of parents come to me with feeding issues which of course affects sleep so checking for a tongue tie is the first thing I do.
Symptoms associated with Tongue-Tie..
- The end of the tongue may be heart shaped or slightly forked.
- The tongue sits on the bottom of the mouth.
- Latching difficulty and maintain latch.
- Discoordination of suck-swallow-breathe. Unable to maintain a circular breathing pattern.
- Chomping, nibble action or clicking while drinking instead of a wide circular jaw action.
- Possible plugged ducts, mastitis, and breast and nipple pain.
- Possible increased air ingestion creating excess gas and fussiness.
- Inability to maintain sucking strength.
- A high arched palate.
- Low milk intake.
- Hypersensitive gag reflex.
- Baby still hungry after a twenty minute sucking period on the breast.
- Persistent swallowing deficits.
- Low tongue posture which may contribute to sleep disordered breathing and sleep apnea.
- Possible open mouth posture associated with an imbalance in skeletal structure.
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