You’ve heard of being “tongue-tied” … well, your baby may be just that.  The medical name for the condition is ankyloglossia, and it’s used to describe a baby with a short lingual frenulum (better known as “that piece of skin that connects your tongue to the floor of your mouth”).  It’s normal for the movement of a newborn’s tongue to be restricted, but the condition will improve as the band stretches with time and growth.  It’s not medically necessary to do something about it unless the tongue-tie is severe and impedes your baby’s ability to eat or lasts more than a year (most pediatricians agree that the condition will right itself within the first twelve months).  In those severe cases, a simple surgery called a frenulotomy is performed.

If you’re poking around inside your baby’s mouth for some reason, you may find epithelial pearls.  These are little fluid-containing cysts or shallow white ulcers that occur on the hard palate or along the gumline.  They are the result of blocked mucus glands, perfectly harmless, and will disappear in one or two months.

Rarely (but certainly not impossibly), a baby may be born with a tooth – or even a few teeth.  90% of those are normal teeth that have erupted prematurely.  The other 10% are extra teeth with no root structure.  An x-ray can be used to distinguish between the two.  If the teeth are just extras with no root structure, they’ll need to be removed by a dentist.  If they have a normal root structure, and have just poked through early, there’s no need to do anything about them unless they become loose or cause sores on your baby’s tongue.

Your baby may have a hard, white callus in the center of her upper lip; this is called a sucking callus and it occurs because of the constant friction experienced during feedings (either breast or bottle).  It’ll disappear once your baby begins drinking from a cup.  These calluses may also appear on the thumb, the wrist … wherever your baby prefers to suck.