Before Your Visit : Improve Feeding and Optimize Your Outcome Before Your Infant Frenectomy Procedure

To improve feeding and ensure the best possible outcome for your little one, Dr. Allie recommends the following before your visit:

1.    Oral Desensitization: Prior to your visit, we recommend beginning gentle oral exercises twice daily! These help improve oral awareness and coordination and will help your baby have an easier time with the aftercare exercises that are necessary following a release.

2.   Bodywork such as Craniosacral Therapy (CST) or Infant Physical Therapy (PT) : Bodywork helps release tension in the muscles and fascia, improving tongue mobility and preparing the body for optimal healing. This can lead to a more conservative release, reduced risk of reattachment and better feeding function. Bodywork also addresses compensatory patterns that babies often develop in response to oral restrictions — such as muscle tightness, asymmetry, or poor tongue mechanics — which are not corrected by the release alone. For this reason, Dr. Allie highly recommends bodywork prior to a release. The preferred bodywork providers include:

-      Madison Maxey at Nurturing Touch and Wellness (CST)

-      Nalan Gursoy at Pediatric Movements (Infant PT)

-      Allison Kops at The Baby PT (Infant PT)

-      Stefanie Morici at NOVA Infant PT (Infant PT)

3.   Lactation Support: It is essential to assess and optimize the latch and positioning, and to develop a personalized feeding plan before and after a frenectomy. Lactation support plays a key role in ensuring a smooth recovery and successful feeding outcomes. We highly recommend securing lactation support prior to your visit. Please feel free to email our office (info@arlingtontonguetie.com) for specific recommendations for IBCLCs near you!  

4.   Therapy (Oral Motor and Feeding Therapy): Before a frenectomy, it’s important to ensure that your baby has adequate muscle tone and strength to support their new range of motion after the release. Oral motor therapy helps prepare the muscles of the mouth, tongue, and jaw by building coordination, endurance, and proper movement patterns. It also teaches the baby how to use this new mobility effectively. This preparation is critical for improving symptoms and function long-term, and it greatly supports post-procedure healing and feeding success. The gentle oral exercises linked above provide a baseline for oral motor success. If your baby is unable to suck on your finger or requires additional strength, coordination or awareness, a referral to an oral therapist is indicated, as a tongue tie release will not improve this. We work with many oral motor and feeding therapists that we LOVE!

-      Sanjana at Stellar Speech (Arlington / Alexandria)

-      Elizabeth McKenzie at Skillbuilders (Arlington)

-      Nadda at Two Can Grow Therapy (Vienna)

-      Bryanna at The Mouth Rehab (Ashburn)

-      Kirsten at Building Blocks (DC)

** If your baby is unable to latch without pain or exhibits a weak suck (or is unable to suck on your finger), it is recommended to work with one of the Infant PT’s listed above as pain and dysfunction is rooted in muscle tension and will not resolve from a release alone. Infant PTs, such as Nalan Gursoy, have dual training and are able to provide bodywork and oral therapy in a single session. For this reason, they are the top providers that Dr. Allie refers to.

A tongue-tie release is just one piece of the puzzle! It takes teamwork (and prep work) to make the tongue work! By addressing all factors (tongue tie, tension and oral dysfunction), Dr. Allie and the team at Arlington Tongue Tie Center see more predictable symptom improvement with babies knowing exactly how to use their new range of motion (vs. some that struggle to connect the dots and use their new range of motion following an infant frenectomy procedure).

 Dr. Allie Lonneman is an infant frenectomy specialist and owner of Arlington Tongue Tie Center. She is the most experienced and trusted provider in Northern Virginia and Washington DC. By following these recommendations, you'll ensure your child knows how to use their new range of motion following the infant frenectomy procedure! Does your infant have a tongue-tie or a lip-tie? Feel free to reach out to our office with any questions or to schedule a Consultation.