"You want to see if the child can protrude the tongue forward beyond the teeth." Doctor Stewart, Otorhinolaryngologist-in-chief at New York Presbyterian Hospital, reviews some common signs that a child may have tongue tie, including problems with breast feeding.

Doctor Stewart:



Taking a longer time to feed, not being able to use a nipple efficiently, etc. That can be an early sign that there's a tongue related problem.



Well, you want to see if the child can protrude the tongue, you know, forward beyond the teeth. That's hard to get little kids, the littlest kids, to actually follow that command or understand even what you mean, obviously, because they don't know what they're tongue is. But they can have feeding problems. So in fact in order to be able to create suction on a nipple or any kind of feeding, you need to be able to move the tongue and the lips to create the suction motion. And sometimes mothers will say that if they're breast feeding, the child tends to fall off, the child tends to not be able to keep a good grip, taking a longer time to feed, not being able to use a nipple as efficiently, etc. That can be an early sign that there is a tongue related problem.