When he was just one week old, we decided to let a doctor cut little Max's frenulum.
Everybody has a frenulum connecting their tongue to the bottom of their mouths. But in some people (including my side of the family), that frenulum is a little short. "Tongue tied," they call it. It can cause speech problems, so Max's mom, the speech pathologist, noticed it right away. My sister and I had no trouble with English sounds, but trying to learn new sounds from other languages later in life turned out to be pretty hard. For example, I can't roll my R's at all.
In my case, it also prevents me from sticking my tongue out very far. And if you can stick your tongue out, you probably think that this is no big deal. But you would be surprised on how many occasions in life those of us who cannot extend our tongues feel that lack, keenly.
In Max's case, it was also causing him to use his gums instead of his tongue when breastfeeding. Very painful for mom. We were worried that he wasn't going to get enough to eat.
So, the doctor cut it. It didn't seem to bother Max much (no more than anything else), but it sure did bother his parents a little.
Did we do the right thing? We modified the boy without his consent. We hope for the better...
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Sunday, February 8, 2009
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