FEEDING AN INFANT WITH A CLEFT LIP AND PALATE

Feeding an infant is important not only in providing nourishment; it also provides 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. We recommend soft squeezable plastic bottle with long nipples. 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.