Ankyloglossia: incidence and associated feeding difficulties.

OBJECTIVES To determine the incidence of ankyloglossia (tongue-tie) in the well-baby population, and to determine whether patients with ankyloglossia experience breastfeeding difficulties. DESIGN Prospective controlled study. SETTING Tertiary care children's hospital. PATIENTS A total of 1041 neonates in the well-baby nursery were screened for ankyloglossia. Those positively identified were invited to participate in the study. Mothers of newborns with ankyloglossia and mothers of a matched control group of unaffected newborns were contacted by telephone on a monthly basis for 6 months after their children were discharged from the hospital to determine the presence of breastfeeding difficulties. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Incidence of ankyloglossia, percentage of infants successfully breastfed, and incidence of breastfeeding difficulties. RESULTS Fifty newborns were identified with ankyloglossia, for an incidence of 4.8% The male-female ratio was 2.6:1.0. Of the 36 mothers of affected infants who were followed up and who intended to breastfeed, 30 (83%) successfully breastfed their infants for at least 2 months, compared with 33 (92%) of the 36 mothers of infants in the matched control group (P = .29). Breastfeeding difficulties were experienced by 9 (25%) of the mothers of infants with ankyloglossia compared with 1 (3%) of the control mothers (P<.01). CONCLUSION Ankyloglossia, which is a relatively common finding in the newborn population, adversely affects breastfeeding in selected infants.