Why Does My Baby Make a Clicking Sound While Breastfeeding?

If you’ve noticed a clicking or popping sound every time your baby nurses, you’re not imagining it — and you’re not alone. Many parents describe this exact sound to us during their first visit, usually paired with a feeling that something about breastfeeding “just isn’t right,” even if they can’t quite explain why.

The good news: a clicking sound during feeding is a recognizable symptom, and in many cases it points to something treatable.

What Causes the Clicking Sound?

That clicking noise usually happens when your baby’s seal on the breast breaks during a suck. Instead of a smooth, continuous latch, the tongue and mouth lose suction and then reattach — over and over, often dozens of times per feed. Each time that happens, you hear a click.

The most common reason a baby can’t maintain a steady seal is a tongue tie (or sometimes a lip tie). When the strip of tissue under the tongue (the lingual frenulum) is too tight or attached too far forward, it restricts how far the tongue can extend and how well it can cup around the breast. Without that mobility, your baby’s mouth keeps breaking and re-forming the seal — which is what produces the click.

Other Signs That Often Show Up Alongside Clicking

Clicking rarely shows up by itself. If your baby has a tongue tie, you may also notice:

• A shallow or painful latch
• Milk leaking out of the corners of the mouth during feeds
• Feeds that take much longer than expected
• Your baby seeming hungry again shortly after finishing
• Slow or below-average weight gain
• Reflux-like symptoms or frequent spit-up
• Fussiness or frustration at the breast

If you’re nodding along to two or three of these, it’s worth getting evaluated rather than assuming it will resolve on its own.

Is It Always Tongue Tie?

Not necessarily. Clicking can also happen with a poor positioning or latch technique, a strong or fast letdown, or even just a baby who’s still learning to nurse efficiently in the first few weeks. A lactation consultant can often help rule those out.

But if you’ve already worked with a lactation consultant on positioning and the clicking persists, that’s usually a strong signal that there’s a physical restriction — like a tongue or lip tie — rather than a technique issue.

What Happens at an Evaluation?

At Valley Advanced Tongue Tie Center, an evaluation involves a hands-on oral exam to check how far your baby’s tongue can lift, extend, and move side to side, along with a discussion of your specific feeding symptoms. If a tongue or lip tie is found to be restricting function, we’ll talk with you about whether a frenectomy — a quick, minimally invasive laser procedure to release the tissue — is the right next step.

Most infant frenectomy procedures take just minutes, and many families see improved latch and reduced clicking within days.

When to Get Your Baby Checked

You don’t need to wait for things to get worse. If breastfeeding involves clicking, discomfort, slow weight gain, or just doesn’t feel “right” to you, that’s reason enough to schedule an evaluation.

Serving families throughout Central PA — including Camp Hill, Harrisburg, Mechanicsburg, and Carlisle — Valley Advanced Tongue Tie Center offers in-house laser frenectomy treatment alongside collaborative care with feeding and lactation specialists.

Schedule an Evaluation or call (717) 253-9839.