- cooked cereals: cream of wheat, cream of rice, oatmeal (thinned as needed)
- soft-cooked macaroni or noodles, mashed
- mashed potatoes (thinned as needed)
- dry cereal, crushed and soaked in milk
| Food Groups | Foods Allowed |
|---|---|
| Vegetables | Fork-mashed, pureed, canned or well-cooked vegetables Stage 1 or 2 baby vegetables |
| Potatoes and Starches | Mashed white or sweet potatoes with no lumps, strings or skins Fork-mashed, well-cooked noodles (pasta, mac & cheese) |
How do you feed a baby with cleft palate?
Feeding with a cleft palate Babies with cleft palate often look like they are feeding well, because the lips and tongue close around the nipple or artificial teat like non-cleft babies and the jaw moves well during sucking. However, most babies with cleft palate cannot generate suction during feeding.
When can my baby eat normally after palate repair surgery?
If the baby has progressed to solids, these can also be reintroduced quite quickly after palate repair surgery. The food should be a soft, sloppy consistency for the first three weeks.
How do you use the specialneeds feeder with a cleft lip?
If your baby has a cleft lip, avoid placing the teat into the cleft. Once your baby starts sucking, squeeze the bottle gently to deliver milk into the mouth. If you are using the SpecialNeeds Feeder, the teat rather than the bottle should be squeezed. A squeeze every three to four sucks is usually enough.
What are some tips for feeding my Baby?
Here are some tips for feeding: Prepare the formula or breast milk for the bottle. If you are using powered formula, mix it with bottled water. Follow the mixing directions carefully for your baby and use the right measuring scoops or spoons. Cuddle your baby for a few minutes before you start to feed.
Can children with cleft palate eat?
This cleft can make feeding hard for your baby. Most babies with a cleft of the palate are not able to use standard bottles or solely breast feed because they cannot create the suction needed to draw the milk out of the nipple. Special bottles and nipples are available to help infants with cleft palate feed and grow.
What can I expect after Palatoplasty?
The area around your child's mouth may be swollen for the first 1 to 2 weeks after surgery. Your child may be more fussy than usual. Your child will have stitches in the roof of their mouth that will slowly dissolve. Many children have a stuffy nose after surgery.
How long does it take to heal from palate surgery?
It can take up to four weeks to recover from cleft lip or cleft palate surgery.
Can babies with cleft palate eat solids?
Babies with cleft lip, cleft palate or cleft lip and palate usually start taking solids at the same time as other babies (between four to six months of age). Sometimes food may come out through your baby's nose during feeding. This may improve if you sit your baby more upright or make the food a little runnier.
Is Palatoplasty a major surgery?
Cleft palate repair is a major surgery with serious risks and potential complications. Most children with cleft palate have the surgery between nine and 12 months of age.
At what age can you fix a cleft palate?
Most times, cleft palate repair is done when the child is older, between 9 months and 1 year old. This allows the palate to change as the baby grows. Doing the repair when the child is this age will help prevent further speech problems as the child develops.
How painful is soft palate surgery?
Surgery on the palate is often performed by making small incisions in the palate, and widening the airway behind the soft palate. Patients often tolerate this procedure well, with only mild to moderate pain.
Is cleft lip/palate a disability?
FACT: A cleft is not a 'disability'. It may affect a child in ways that mean they need extra help, but most children with a cleft are not affected by any other condition and are capable of doing just as well at school as any other child.
What are the complications after cleft palate repair?
Irregular healing of scars including shortening, thickening or overgrowth. Poor healing of incisions. Possibility of revisional surgery. Residual irregularities and asymmetries in the lip or nose.
How do you feed a baby with a cleft palate?
In the presence of a cleft palate, breastfeeding in the traditional manner is often not recommended, but there are alternative methods for providing breast milk to your baby. Pumping breast milk and using specialty bottles are supported as a way of feeding a baby with a cleft palate.
How do babies eat after cleft palate surgery?
Drinking and EatingGive soft, pureed or mashed foods for 3 weeks. ... Do not give foods that have chunks, lumps or pieces, such as seeds, grains, pulp or skin.Do not give hard, crunchy foods such as cold cereal, cookies, crackers or chips.Use only a spoon for feeding.Do not let your child feed themself.More items...
Can cleft palate babies speak?
It is common for children born with cleft palate or with cleft lip and palate to have speech problems at some time in their lives. Over half of these children will need speech therapy; however, most will develop normal speech by age 5.
What is Palatoplasty surgery?
A palatoplasty is a surgical procedure used to correct or reconstruct the PALATE in a person with a CLEFT PALATE.
What is Pharyngoplasty surgery?
Pharyngoplasty is an operation to change the shape and function of the soft palate and the area around it called the pharynx.
What is Furlow Palatoplasty?
Furlow Palatoplasty (Double-Reversing Z-Plasty) This procedure involves a plastic surgical technique, which was traditional used for cleft palates, to lengthen and thicken the soft palate and realign abnormal placement of the palatal muscles in order to allow the palate touch the back of throat naturally.
Which tool is used for Palatoplasty?
The double-angle needle holder was found to have been really useful for oral surgeries, especially palatoplasty.
How long does it take to feed a baby with cleft palate?
Feeding takes longer than 30 minutes. No wet diaper for 6 hours straight. A hard time waking up for feeding. Some children who have other medical conditions along with a cleft palate may have a harder time with feeding and will need other changes in their feeding plan.
How to feed a baby?
Here are some tips for feeding: Prepare the formula or breast milk for the bottle. If you are using powered formula, mix it with bottled water. Follow the mixing directions carefully for your baby and use the right measuring scoops or spoons. Cuddle your baby for a few minutes before you start to feed.
Why is it important to have a cleft palate?
The palate is important for feeding and speaking. A cleft is an opening or split in the palate. This cleft can make feeding hard for your baby. Most babies with a cleft of the palate are not able to use standard bottles or solely breast feed because they cannot create the suction needed to draw the milk out of the nipple. ...
What is a cleft lip nurser?
Enfamil® Cleft Lip/Palate Nurser: This bottle is soft and squeezable and comes with a long, stiff nipple. It can also be used with any standard sized nipple, like an orthodontic nipple. To feed your baby, gently squeeze the bottle using a pulsing rhythm while your baby is sucking to help provide the milk ( Picture 1 ).
What to do after feeding a baby?
Be sure to ask our feeding team about when you can start feeding cereal, fruits and vegetables.
Is it normal for a baby to choke after feeding?
This is normal for a child with cleft palate that has not been fixed. It does not mean your child is choking. To help with this, keep your baby more upright during and after feeding. Most infants with cleft palate can feed successfully.
Can you hold a bottle during feeding?
You should hold the bottle during the whole feeding time. The bottle should not be propped by a pillow or other item during feeding. This is not safe for your baby and can cause choking. Burp your baby often (after every 1/2 to 1 ounce). Babies may swallow air during feeding.
How to help a baby with a cleft lip?
If your baby has a cleft lip, try gently holding the upper lip together while bottle feeding, to help create the needed seal around the nipple.
What to look for when buying a baby bottle?
When buying a baby bottle, the most important thing to look for is the softness of the plastic. Soft plastic bottles allow the feeder to squeeze slightly and help control the flow of liquid. Some commercially available bottles are soft. There are several different nipples available for babies with cleft palate.
Why do babies burp?
Burp your baby. Because more air is swallowed when the baby doesn’t have good suction, remember to burp your baby regularly. The extra air in the stomach takes up space that could be filled with food and increases the chances of spitting up after the meal.
Why do babies with cleft lips have problems latching on?
Babies with cleft lips also seek out the nipple but may have problems latching on efficiently because of a poor lip seal around the nipple.
Can babies with cleft lips sucking from bottles?
Babies with cleft lips and/or palates have their own unique ways of sucking from a bottle. They may require special bottles or nipples and some extra patience.