“Every time my baby nurses, I hear a clicking sound. Is something wrong?”
This is one of the most common questions parents ask me.
If you’ve noticed your baby making a clicking or smacking sound while breastfeeding, you’re certainly not alone. Some parents hear it occasionally, while others notice it throughout nearly every feeding.
The clicking itself isn’t the problem.
It’s often a clue that your baby is having difficulty maintaining suction and transferring milk efficiently.
After evaluating thousands of babies with feeding difficulties, I’ve found that tongue-ties are one of the most common reasons babies click while nursing. They’re certainly not the only cause, but they’re frequently overlooked – especially when the evaluation focuses on what the frenulum looks like rather than how the tongue functions during feeding.
The encouraging news is that when a tongue-tie is truly contributing to the problem, treatment is often very rewarding. We regularly see babies feed more efficiently, swallow less air, nurse more comfortably, and seem much more satisfied after eating.
💡 Quick Answer
A baby clicking while breastfeeding usually means they are losing suction during nursing.
This can happen because of a shallow latch, tongue-tie, lip tie, positioning issues, or difficulty coordinating sucking and swallowing. While occasional clicking isn’t usually concerning, persistent clicking combined with poor feeding, excessive air swallowing, or nipple pain should be evaluated by a qualified healthcare professional.
What Causes the Clicking Sound?
During breastfeeding, your baby’s mouth should create a comfortable seal around the breast.
As the tongue moves in a coordinated pattern, it helps maintain suction while efficiently removing milk.
When that seal repeatedly breaks, air slips into the mouth before suction is reestablished. That brief loss of suction creates the clicking sound many parents hear.
Think of it like drinking through a straw with a tiny hole in the side. Instead of maintaining smooth, continuous suction, air repeatedly enters and interrupts the flow.
An occasional click usually isn’t concerning.
Persistent clicking throughout most feedings, however, deserves a closer look – particularly when it’s accompanied by other feeding difficulties.
Why Does My Baby Keep Losing Suction?
Babies lose suction for a variety of reasons, but one of the most common causes I see is restricted tongue movement.
The tongue does much more than simply move milk toward the back of the mouth. It also helps create and maintain the suction needed for efficient breastfeeding.
When tongue movement is restricted, babies often compensate by repeatedly breaking and reestablishing their latch.
That’s what creates the clicking sound.
Over time, that repeated loss of suction may also lead to:
- Longer feedings
- Poor milk transfer
- Swallowing excess air
- Frequent burping
- Gas and fussiness
- Milk leaking from the corners of the mouth
- Babies who never seem completely satisfied after eating
Many parents initially assume these are separate problems.
In reality, they may all be connected.
Could a Tongue-Tie Be the Cause?
Very often, yes.
After evaluating thousands of babies with breastfeeding difficulties, I’ve found that tongue-ties are one of the most common reasons babies lose suction while nursing.
One of the most common things I hear is:
“Our pediatrician said there wasn’t a tongue-tie.”
Or…
“Our lactation consultant didn’t think there was one.”
Sometimes that’s absolutely correct.
However, many of the families who come to our office have already received one or more opinions before coming to see us. In some cases, the tongue-tie simply wasn’t recognized. In others, the evaluation focused primarily on the appearance of the frenulum rather than how the tongue functioned during feeding.
That’s why I believe a comprehensive functional evaluation is so important.
Some babies have an obvious tongue-tie.
Others have a posterior tongue-tie that’s much more difficult to recognize but can significantly affect suction, milk transfer, and feeding efficiency.
When a tongue-tie is truly the underlying cause, treatment often leads to remarkable improvements. Parents commonly tell us the clicking stops, feedings become shorter and more efficient, babies swallow less air, and breastfeeding becomes much more enjoyable. Watching those transformations is one of the most rewarding parts of my practice.
What Other Symptoms Often Occur Along With Clicking?
Clicking rarely occurs by itself.
Parents often tell me they’re hearing the clicking and noticing several other symptoms at the same time.
Your baby may also:
- Nurse for long periods but still seem hungry afterward
- Pull on and off the breast repeatedly
- Swallow a great deal of air
- Burp frequently or seem unusually gassy
- Become frustrated while feeding
- Fall asleep before finishing a feeding
- Have milk leaking from the corners of the mouth
- Cause persistent nipple pain during breastfeeding
When several of these symptoms occur together, it often suggests that feeding isn’t as efficient as it should be.
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Does this sound like your baby?
If your baby clicks during most feedings, struggles to stay latched, or never seems completely satisfied after eating, don’t lose hope. Many of the families we care for have already been told everything looks normal or that there isn’t a tongue-tie. In many cases, a comprehensive functional evaluation provides the answers they’ve been searching for.
Families regularly travel to the Alabama Tongue-Tie Center from across the United States and around the world because they’re looking for specialized feeding evaluations and treatment.
Send us a message or call 205-419-4333 to schedule a consultation. Our team is happy to answer your questions, discuss travel if you’re coming from outside the area, and help you determine the best next step for your family.
Conclusion
While occasional clicking during breastfeeding is often harmless, persistent clicking combined with poor latch, excessive air swallowing, prolonged feeds, or ongoing nipple pain may indicate an underlying feeding issue such as tongue-tie. A thorough functional feeding evaluation can help identify the cause and guide the most appropriate treatment.
Still Concerned About Your Baby’s Feeding?
