Most often babies who are born with cleft lips or palates are required to stay a bit longer in the hospitals than other babies. This is due to the special feedings that babies with clefts need. You can’t simply place a bottle in the baby’s mouth and they start drinking. With cleft babies there are special bottles, nipples and it takes a tremendous amount of patience.

The best part about cleft lips and palates is that they can be repaired. As a Mom and Dad you feel horrible and helpless that your baby has these difficulties when it comes to eating. The repair of the lip is done first from 4 to 6 months and the palate is 9 to 14 months. Each baby is different so the timing of the surgery will depend on when your doctor and surgeon believes the baby will be ready.

Challenges of Feeding a Baby with Cleft Lip and Palate

Babies that are born with cleft lip and palates are often in the hospital a little longer than babies that do were not born that way. The reason is so that parents can learn how to feed the baby outside of the hospital. There are many challenges in feeding babies with the cleft lip and palate. One of these challenges is that the baby does not have a capacity for sucking a bottle like a normal lipped baby. So special feeders are needed. The Haberman Feeder is very popular with cleft palate babies.

It has been said that some babies with cleft palates may be able to breastfeed. The idea is to make feeding easier for the baby. Babies that are born with the cleft lips and or palates are still capable of eating but it will take some patience and some hard work. If you are a Mom that is returning to work then it is equally important that the person that will be in charge of your baby knows how to properly feed your baby.

What To Feed Babies with Cleft Lip and Palate

Cleft Lip and Palate don’t always go hand in hand, your baby may have one or the other or both. When your child is a newborn the type of food or formula you feed them doesn’t make a difference. You can still feed your baby Similac or Enfamil. The only choice is that of the parents. Now by the time your child is ready for baby food, which should be about 4 to 6 months, you should have scheduled the repair of the cleft lip. Once this is done you will no longer need the special feeders.

The cleft palate will not be ready to be repaired until your child is between 9 and 14 months. In this time your baby will be ready for baby food. Use a soft spoon with a small head. Babies with cleft palates can still feed from a spoon specially if their cleft lips are repaired. Often times when your baby has a cleft palate there may be food that comes up through the babies nose. Don’t panic, this is 100% normal.

Parents and Feeding Cleft Palate Babies

Don’t panic if your baby doesn’t feed for you right away. These special feeders will take sometime to master not just for you but for the baby as well. You will find that with a little bit of patience you will get the hang of it. One thing to keep in mind is that when you become frustrated the baby can sense that and it may affect the way you feed the baby.

The best way to learn to feed babies with cleft lips and palates is from the nurses in the hospital. The nurses will take the extra time to make sure that you and everyone who needs to know how to feed the baby will be able to. Find out from the hospital where to get these feeders. When my son Aidan was sent home from the hospital they gave me 4 nipples, 2 bottles and the inserts I needed.

But once I needed new ones, they were very hard to find. Now you can find them online. There are no too many local stores that carry these feeders. So make sure that you have some on order, these feeders don’t last more than a month or so.

The most important thing is that if you still feel uncomfortable feeding your baby, let the staff know. Ask all of the questions you need to ask, remember it is all for the sake and health of your baby. Don’t be afraid to ask the hospital for a phone number in case you need any help. We can provide you with some insight of what to expect but we can’t tell you how to feed your baby. Each Mom and Dad will develop his or her own way of feeding that best works for you and for your baby.