How Do You Feed a Baby With Cleft Lip
Feeding an infant with cleft lip and palate
Babies with cleft lips and/or palates have their ain unique means of sucking from a bottle. They may require special bottles or nipples and some actress patience.
Infant feeding
Many babies with cleft lips or scissure palates eat just fine past oral cavity and demand no actress nutrient supplementation. Some have a few feeding problems, and others have more difficulty and crave more assistance. Talk with your baby'due south doc or a feeding specialist to decide what type of assist your infant may demand.
All newborns instinctively search for the nipple, suck, and swallow. Babies with cleft lips besides seek out the nipple simply may have problems latching on efficiently because of a poor lip seal around the nipple.
Cleft palates present a different claiming. Considering of the opening between the mouth and the nasal cavity, information technology'southward hard to create a adept suction to describe liquid from the nipple. In add-on, liquid can exist lost through the nose. These babies tend to chew on the nipple rather than suck. And they may need special bottles and nipples to assistance them out.
Choosing a bottle or nipple
Fig. 1 Haberman scissure palate feeder
When ownership a infant bottle, the most of import affair to look for is the softness of the plastic. Soft plastic bottles allow the feeder to clasp slightly and help control the menstruation of liquid. Some commercially available bottles are soft.
At that place are several different nipples available for babies with cleft palate. An effective nipple usually is soft and has a cantankerous cutting or several extra holes. Preemie nipples or regular juice cross-cutting nipples work for some infants merely are as well minor for others.
Fig. 2 Mead-Johnson cleft palate feeder
The Haberman Feeder is a feeding unit designed especially for babies with cleft palates (Fig. 1). This bottle has a specially designed nipple that keeps liquid in the nipple once the nipple has been sucked. The liquid does not flow dorsum out, as in most nipples. It has a slice-cut hole that responds to the typical chewing activity of these infants. You lot can nowadays the nipple in ane of three different directions, to make the liquid come out in slow, medium, or fast mode, depending on the needs of the infant.
The Mead Johnson Fissure Palate Nurser® set is some other feeding unit that comes with a cantankerous-cut soft nipple (Fig. ii). Information technology has a slightly longer nipple than nearly. This places the liquid a bit farther dorsum on the tongue. The softness and cross cutting combination allows the chewing action to release liquids more than easily than a regular nipple.
Positions
Experiment with your infant to discover practiced positions for both of yous. Each child and mother/male parent team is unlike. Y'all may need to change your baby's position and the nipple presentation to help your infant swallow more than efficiently.
Any position yous cull should be as well-nigh upright as possible (Fig. 3). When the baby'due south head is upright, gravity helps pull liquid into the throat and stomach rather than into the nose or centre ear space. Fugitive the back of the nose is of import because babies with cleft palates are at a higher risk for ear infections. Constant improper flow of liquid increases the likelihood of liquid backing upwards and causing infection in the Eustachian tubes between the throat and ears.
Fig. iii Right and wrong feeding positions
Presenting the bottle
Hold your baby's cheeks forward to help create a smaller space in the rima oris and increase the oral contact with the nipple.
If your baby has a cleft lip, effort gently holding the upper lip together while canteen feeding, to assist create the needed seal around the nipple. This may require some creative finger maneuvering on your part—experiment!
Burp your baby
Because more air is swallowed when the infant doesn't take good suction, remember to burp your baby regularly. The extra air in the stomach takes up space that could be filled with nutrient and increases the chances of spitting up later the meal.
Growth
Good nutrition is very important for all babies, and even more and so for babies facing surgery. Your babe must make a good weight gain to be salubrious enough for corrective surgery on the lips and/or palate. You should expect a minimum of ½ oz. of weight proceeds per twenty-four hours (approximately 4 oz. per week). Hash out any questions yous have nearly your child'due south weight gain with your baby'southward doctor.
Adapted from Cleft Lip and Palate: Bottle Feeding and Your Baby, Therapy Skill Builders, a sectionalization of Communication Skill Builders, Inc. ©1994
Source: https://www.childrensmn.org/services/care-specialties-departments/ear-nose-throat-ent-facial-plastic-surgery/conditions-and-services/feeding-an-infant-with-cleft-lip-and-palate/
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