My Forum

 I have a 3 month old and a 2 and a half year old and brought a Kid-Sit for the older child to sit on and he loves it! (he calls it his big brother seat) I can`t prase it enough. But before buying one go to the makers website and look at the list of compatable push chairs as due to the way it fits on it does not fit all pushchairs and with some makes it impossable to use the brake, but this is covered on there site. Also it can be fiddaly to put on and take off but now I have the `knack` I can put it on in about 2 min and take it off in the same time.

Another alternitive to a double buggy with children of differant ages is a `Swiss Stroli Rider`which is basicaly a bike that goes on the back of the pushchair(my mum who is a childminder uses one) this woks best on pushchairs with ovel supports,(also child must be old enough to sit still as he/she is beside you)every child who has been on this including my son loves it.

Both of the above get admiring commnts from all who see them as so rare - including teens wishing they were small enough to have a go. Also with both of them we (my mum and I) put rains on my son and attach them to the pushchair with a mummyhook(basically a soft clamp from jojo maman bebe) so if he decides to jump off (because he sees something for example)  he can`t run off into the road so he is much safe.

Those sound like the problems I had, so I hope this helps:

To explain what tongue tie is: First look at your own tongue in the mirror . Open your mouth and put your tongue to the roof of your mouth behind your teeth and look at the under side. There is a line or seam down the middle and at the back there  is a small bit or triangle of skin that connects the tongue to the base of your mouth. Quite simpley with tongue tie this bit of skin is too long, it still starts at the back but comes too far forward along that line and ties the tongue down, how much depends on how far forward it comes, in servere cases right to the tip.

To identify tongue in a baby: When she is relaxed, but awake look at her tongue if the tip seams Heart shaped then it is tongue tie. Try and get her to move her tongue can she lift it or poke it out, copying you Daddy or big sister, (la,laing to a song can work) If she has a lot less movement than her sister it is probably tongue. The other thing you can do is with a CLEAN little finger with SHORT nails is gently put you finger under her tongue along the middle until you feel the bit of skin. With a normal tongue you should be able to get between the first and second joint underneth, with tongue tie less, If you can see any of your finger nail than I would say treatment is needed(my view) between the nail and first joint there is tongue tie and if there is problems with feeding or a family history should be treated(again my view). 

If you find or suspect tongue tie talk to your health visitor, G.P. and local NCT. group, the options for treatment are to snip the bit of skin so it doesn`t come so far forward (the only option when servere) this operation takes seconds when my sons was done we were at the hospital for less than an hour and most of that was paper work, chat and feeding him afterward. He didn`t cry at all. The other option is tongue exercises that you can get from the feeding experts at most hospitals, most health visitors , and the NCT and other support groups, these are designed to help tongue movement  and streech the skin so it is less likely to cause long term problems.

Long term problems even without problems feeding are mainly speach based, not being able to use your tongue properly makes some sounds hard to make (try la-laing to a song without letting your tongue move - infact this is a good exercise along with poking the tongue out for streeching the tongue and improving movement) and as most people know when at school you don`t wat to stand out as the child who can`t read aloud so it is worth getting treatment early before habbit are formed.

I hope this helps,

Kamala                                                                                           

My son was born with tongue-tie, I knew within an hour but the midwives, peditrition etc. failed to identify it(even calling me norotic and an idiot for sugessting it) for nearly a week. This when 99% of boys in my family and 10% of girls are born with it (YES it CAN be genetic, from either side, so talk to family!) He also was having MAJOR problems feeding and not gaining weight which is why we were still there 6 days after birth! Finally on day 6 a midwfe admitted that it could be a problem but was unlikey as the tounge tie was mild. After our release the health visitor aranged for the tie to be "split" and withen a week his reflux and other problems had all improved. The procedure took less than a minute and was painless so shouldnot be avoided if needed. Tongue-tie should NOT be ignored, If it is mild and you don`t want to have it "split" ask the feeding experts and peditrition for exercises you can do with baby to improve feeding and flexability and help it correct itself.If untreated it can cause long term speach problems including lisping(some experts belive ALL lisps are caused by untreated tongue-tie) which can cause bulling at school,and anyway don`t all children have the right to eat an ice cream and lollys, to lick there bowl clean and poke there tongues out (even if only as part of the actions in a song or a "lets pretend" game) children with tongue-tie can`t do these things and miss out on so much. So for your childs sake even if its mild and doesn`t effect feeding PLEASE don`t ignore it.