If you’re reading this at 3 a.m. with a hungry, frustrated baby who just won’t latch, please know this: you are not doing anything wrong, and you are not alone. The exhaustion, the cracked and painful nursing, the worry that your little one isn’t getting enough. So many parents quietly carry this. A baby tongue tie is often the hidden reason behind these struggles. One of those parents was Dr. Gabriela Moffett, and her story is exactly why our Tongue Tie Center practice exists.
Is your baby’s tongue tie making breastfeeding painful?
New parents are often told that painful nursing, a baby who slips off the breast, endless feedings, or a little one who seems hungry again minutes later is simply part of the journey. It doesn’t have to be. Very often, the real cause is a tongue tie: a small band of tissue under the tongue that keeps a baby from moving it freely enough to feed well.
When a baby can’t lift, extend, or cup the tongue the way nursing requires, the result is a shallow latch. That shallow latch is behind so much of what parents describe: clicking sounds during feeds, milk dribbling out the sides, painful or damaged nipples, marathon feeding sessions, fussiness, poor weight gain, and a baby who never quite seems satisfied.
Dr. Moffett’s story: a mother before she was your provider
Dr. Gabriela Moffett didn’t come to this work through a textbook. She came to it as a new mom, cradling her own baby, desperate to make breastfeeding work.
Like so many of the families she now cares for, she struggled. Her baby had a shallow latch, and nursing was painful and discouraging. She did everything the books said, tried every position, and questioned herself the way exhausted new parents do, wondering if she simply wasn’t cut out for this.
Then she discovered what was really going on: a baby tongue tie. After her baby had a tongue-tie release, everything changed. The latch deepened. The pain eased. Feeding became the calm, connected, nourishing experience she had hoped for all along. The relief was immediate and, honestly, emotional. The kind of turning point a parent never forgets.
That personal experience transformed her. Having lived both the frustration and the relief firsthand, Dr. Moffett became passionate about giving other families the same outcome her own family got to enjoy. For her, performing frenectomies isn’t just a procedure. It’s deeply personal and profoundly fulfilling. Every time she helps a baby feed comfortably and hands a worried parent a reason to exhale, she’s giving back the very gift that changed her own motherhood.
“I know exactly what it feels like to sit there in tears, wondering why something so natural is so hard. And I know how it feels when it finally works. That’s what I want for every family who walks through our door.”
— Dr. Gabriela Moffett
What a tongue-tie release actually involves
A tongue-tie release (also called a frenectomy) is a quick, gentle, in-office procedure. Using a laser, the restrictive tissue under the tongue, and sometimes the lip, is released so your baby can move the tongue freely and latch deeply. It takes only a few minutes, and most babies can nurse right afterward. Many parents notice a difference in the very first feeding.
Signs it may be worth having your baby evaluated:
- Baby won’t latch, or slips off the breast or bottle repeatedly
- Painful nursing, or cracked and damaged nipples
- Clicking sounds or milk leaking during feeds
- Very long feeds, or a baby who seems hungry again right away
- Poor weight gain, reflux-like symptoms, or excessive fussiness and gas
- Difficulty latching on one side more than the other
You don’t have to figure this out alone
If any of this sounds like your days and nights right now, we would love to take a look. An evaluation is simple, it can bring you real answers — and real relief. Whether you’re in Broward, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, or anywhere in South Florida, help is close by.
Dr. Moffett and our team understand this journey because we’ve lived it too. Come let us help your family find the comfortable, connected feeding you’ve been hoping for.
Book Your Baby’s Tongue-Tie Evaluation
Have questions about your baby’s latch? Schedule online today — we’re here for you.
