I ❤️ Tongues: Heart-shaped Tongues in Babies

❤️ Heart-Shaped Tongue in Babies: Is It a Sign of Tongue Tie?

A quick note: This article is based on my personal experience, conversations with healthcare professionals, and current research available at the time of writing. It is intended for educational purposes and should not replace individualized medical advice from your healthcare team.

If you’ve ever looked at your baby’s tongue and thought, “Is it supposed to look like that?”—you’re not alone.

When my first baby was born, my mom was actually the one who noticed it first.

She’s a physical therapist, so she’s used to paying attention to movement, positioning, and how different parts of the body can work together.

She looked at my baby’s tongue and noticed that the tip had a distinct indentation in the middle—almost like a little heart.

She had heard speech therapist talk about it before and asked about it in the hospital.

“There appears to be a heart shaped tongue- does she have a tongue tie?”

It was dismissed.

At the time, we didn’t know enough to question it. We didn’t know the importance of tongue ties on feeding. We didn’t know what a tongue tie was really supposed to look like. And honestly, we didn’t know what questions we should have been asking.

So we went home.

And that little heart stayed in the back of my mom’s mind.

As we started navigating feeding and eventually learning more about tongue ties, I began to realize that what my mom had noticed wasn’t necessarily something to ignore. It wasn’t proof that there was a tongue tie—but it was a clue worth understanding in the context of everything else.

And then it happened again with my second baby.

Another little heart.

By that point, we knew to look a little closer.

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❤️ The Heart Changed the Way My Mom Looked at Her Patients

This is one of the most unexpected parts of our story.

My mom is a physical therapist, and after seeing the heart-shaped tongue in both of my children and learning more about tongue function, it changed the way she looked at some of her pediatric patients with torticollis.

She began paying closer attention to the bigger picture.

Not assuming that a tongue tie was the cause of a child’s torticollis.

Not diagnosing tongue ties herself.

But noticing when a child had persistent asymmetries, positioning preferences, or movement patterns that made her wonder whether there might be something else worth asking about.

And sometimes, that meant encouraging parents to ask more questions.

“Have you ever had your baby’s tongue function evaluated?”

“Has anyone looked at the way their tongue moves?”

That doesn’t mean every baby with torticollis has a tongue tie.

They don’t.

Torticollis can have many different causes, and a physical therapist should evaluate the child as a whole.

But our experience taught my mom something important:

Sometimes one small observation can be the reason you look a little deeper.

And that’s really what I hope this article does for you.

Not convince you that your baby has a tongue tie.

Not tell you that a heart-shaped tongue explains every feeding or movement problem.

But simply give you another piece of information to take with you when you talk to your child’s healthcare providers.

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❤️ Why Can a Tongue Tie Make the Tongue Look Like a Heart?

Imagine the tongue as a flexible muscle that should be able to move forward, upward, and from side to side.

Now imagine a small piece of tissue underneath it acting like a tether.

When the tongue tries to extend, that restriction may limit movement of the tongue along the center, potentially creating a dip or notch in the center of the tongue tip.

The sides may appear to move more freely than the center.

The result?

A tongue that can look like a little heart.

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❤️ Biomechanics Simplified

Below is a diagram of a heart shaped tongue created from a restrictive tongue tie. As always, tongue ties are diagnosed by a professional to determine restrictiveness.

How restricted tongue movement may contribute to a heart-shaped or notched appearance of the tongue.

The important distinction is that a heart-shaped tongue is a sign to observe, not a diagnosis.Tongue appearance should be considered alongside tongue mobility, oral anatomy, feeding function, and any symptoms the baby is experiencing.

I love this photo of my daughter’s tongue in action. The tongue muscles are super prominent and flexing on the sides.

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❤️ “But They Told Us It Was Normal.”

This is something I especially want moms to hear.

If you’ve noticed something about your baby and asked about it, only to be told “That’s normal,” you aren’t wrong for continuing to wonder.

Sometimes something truly is normal.

And sometimes something that doesn’t seem important by itself becomes more meaningful when you look at the whole picture.

In our case, my mom noticed the heart-shaped tongue before we knew the whole impact that a tongue tie would have on our daughter’s health journey.

And now, years later, that experience has changed the questions my mom asks when practicing physical therapy and how I have navigated my own tied tongue.

That’s one of the reasons I’m writing this.

Not to tell you that every heart-shaped tongue needs treatment.

Not to tell you that your pediatrician missed something.

And definitely not to encourage you to diagnose your baby from a picture.

I simply want parents to know that it’s okay to ask another question when something doesn’t make sense to you.

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❤️ The message I want you to take away

You don’t have to walk into your pediatrician’s office saying:

“My baby has a tongue tie.”

You can simply say:

“I’ve noticed that my baby’s tongue looks heart-shaped when they stick it out. Could you take a look at their tongue movement and let me know if you think we should have it evaluated further?”

That’s a completely reasonable question.

And if you’re also seeing feeding difficulties, torticollis, body asymmetry, difficulty turning the head, or other concerns, mention those too.

You aren’t diagnosing your baby. You’re giving your provider more information.

And sometimes, that’s all it takes to start asking the right questions.