July 21, 2025

Tongue Ties & Lip Ties: Do These Affect Baby's Ability to Self-Feed? with Dr. Shaina Holman, DDS, PhD

29 minutes

#52: If your baby has a tongue-tie (or has had one released) you might be wondering: will this affect their ability to start solid foods?

In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Shaina Holman, DDS, PhD, a dentist with a rare specialty in infant tongue-ties and a research background in infant feeding. She runs a multidisciplinary infant feeding clinic in North Carolina, working alongside lactation consultants, SLPs, and infant massage therapists to take a whole-body, team-based approach to diagnosis and treatment.

Dr. Shaina explains what tongue- and lip-ties are, how they can impact both milk feeding and solid feeding, and what to look out for if you’re considering - or have already done - a release. As a mom of three who’s done baby-led weaning with her own kids, she brings both clinical and practical insights to this conversation.

Listen to this episode to learn:

1. What tongue ties are and why experts don’t always agree on treatment routes

2. How having a tongue tie does - and does not - impact your baby’s ability to breastfeed, bottle-feed and eat solid foods

3. Why babies who have had tongue tie releases sometimes struggle with solid foods and what to do if this happens to you

Shownotes for this episode can be found here:

⁠⁠https://www.babyledweaning.co/podcast/52

Links from this episode:

• Visit Dr. Shaina’s private practice website and her tongue tie clinic

• Follow Dr. Shaina on Instagram @holmanfamilydentalcare

• Baby-Led Weaning with Katie Ferraro program with the 100 First Foods™ Daily Meal Plan, join here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://babyledweaning.co/program⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

• Baby-Led Weaning for Beginners free online workshop with 100 First Foods™ list to all attendees, register here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://babyledweaning.co/baby-led-weaning-for-beginners⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Other episodes related to this topic:

• Episode 148 - How Cleft Lip & Cleft Palate Babies can Succeed in Self-Feeding with Vikash K. Modi, MD

• Episode 438 - How to Brush Your Baby's Teeth with @firstgrin Ashley Lerman, DDS

• Episode 466 - Beginnings of a Bad Bite: How Purees Impact Jaw Growth with Ben Miraglia, DDS

🌱 🌱🌱🌱 🌱

Not sure about which foods to offer your baby next? Get your copy of my original 100 FIRST FOODS list on my free online video workshop called ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BABY-LED WEANING FOR BEGINNERS⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

💯 💯 💯 💯 💯

Want guided help on how to make all of the 100 FIRST FOODS™ safely for your baby? My program BABY-LED WEANING WITH KATIE FERRARO has a 100 FIRST FOODS daily meal plan and everything else you need to start solid foods safely with baby-led weaning. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠CLICK HERE TO JOIN⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

👀 👀 👀 👀 👀

Be sure to follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@babyledweanteam⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Instagram and our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Baby-Led Weaning YouTube channel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more information about helping your baby transition to solid foods safely.

🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏

If you learned something from this episode and like this podcast, your review means the WORLD to us and helps other parents find this important evidence-based infant feeding info. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here to leave a review on Apple podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠rate this show on Spotify podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and thanks for being a part of this amazing and supportive baby-led weaning community!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

...more