It Didn't Work. Now What? Managing Reattachment and Suboptimal Outcomes in Babies and Children

It didn't work. The tie was assessed and treated, whether by release alone or alongside other therapy, only for the same feeding difficulty, the same compensations, the same worry, to still be there weeks later. This is a case every clinician in the room has experienced at least once, and rarely one discussed openly at a conference. This workshop is built around it.

Delivered jointly by a consultant paediatrician and a chartered physiotherapist, both IBCLCs, who manage this pathway together in daily clinical practice, the workshop examines reattachment and suboptimal outcomes in babies and children from a medical, surgical and therapeutic perspective throughout, rather than treating these as separate conversations for separate disciplines.

Throughout the session, Dr Justin Roche brings a structural and surgical lens to the case, addressing the medical complexity that can add layers to presentations that look straightforward on the surface: reattachment or incomplete release, overlooked structural and medical contributors, and the reasoning required to make a new treatment plan from this point forwards. Alongside this, Kate Roche translates the same case into practice, using extensive clinical video footage and demonstrations to apply three working principles, releasing restriction, retraining function, and relieving tension, to rebuild normal movement patterns where compensation has been the norm.

By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to recognise the medical, surgical and therapeutic factors behind reattachment and suboptimal outcomes, and apply a structured pathway toward resolution rather than a repeat of the same approach that did not achieve the outcome originally hoped for. The workshop is intended for an interdisciplinary audience, including IBCLCs, SLTs, physiotherapists, bodyworkers, dentists and paediatric clinicians, managing tongue tie in babies and children.