Chapter
1:
Feeding an Infant with a Cleft
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Chapter
1: |
| Clefts
of the Lip and Palate
Feeding an Infant
Clefts of the Lip and Palate |
Feeding an infant is important not only in
providing nourishment, it also provides an intimacy and closeness for
both the parent and the child. Infants with a cleft of the lip or of the
soft palate seldom have problems with feeding either by bottle or
breast.
In babies with clefts of the hard palate, the opening in the roof of the mouth often causes difficulty in creating adequate pressure on the nipple, thus creating an inability to suck well enough to get adequate nourishment. Feeding the infant takes patience and practice. At our center we recommend the use of a soft squeezable plastic bottle like Mead Johnson with an orthodontic nipple such as Nuk. You can increase the flow by gently squeezing or putting pressure on the bottle. It is important to feed the infant before he/she becomes too hungry. Position the infant in an upright position with the head tilted back slightly. This position allows the milk to flow down into the throat and less into the nose. Infants with clefts do swallow more air and need to be burped more frequently. At first, it may take extra time, but this will steadily decrease . Feeding time of the newborn varies from 20-30 minutes. When feeding takes longer than 45 minutes, the infant may be burning up calories necessary to gain weight. If this occurs the feeding consultant should be contacted to help with the feeding technique. Breast feeding the newborn with a cleft of the hard palate is often unsuccessful. Generally the infant cannot produce enough negative pressure to obtain ample breast milk to provide adequate nourishment. Using a breast pump to extract the milk and feeding the infant breast milk from a squeezable bottle is recommended.
The Tennessee Craniofacial
Center, part of the Erlanger Health System, is located in Chattanooga,
Tennessee. The Center, led Larry A. Sargent, M.D., specializes in the
evaluation and treatment of patients of all ages with craniofacial deformities.
Location:
975 East Third Street. Chattanooga, Tennessee 37403
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