Babies with cleft palate commonly have feeding difficulties. Because the roof of the mouth is not formed completely, babies with cleft abnormalities often have trouble creating enough suction to pull milk from a standard bottle or the breast. With proper teaching, support and patience, most babies with cleft palate go on to do very well with ...

How do I feed my baby with cleft palate? Babies with cleft palate usually need special bottles and techniques to feed well, whether or not they have cleft lip. It is rarely possible to breastfeed/chestfeed or use a regular bottle. With cleft palate, a baby cannot create suction to get milk out of the breast/chest or bottle.

Infants with cleft lip and/or cleft palate can have difficulty feeding. These babies usually benefit from modified feeding techniques to make feeding successful and enjoyable. Goals for feeding all babies are to: Provide optimal nutrition for growth; Choose a …

Babies born with cleft lip and palate, like any other babies, need to learn how to feed successfully in order to thrive and grow. If the baby has a cleft lip only (with a normal palate), he/she should be able to eat normally using standard techniques. Babies …

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.

Normally, when babies are feeding, their lips flange firmly against the areola, sealing the oral cavity anteriorly. The soft palate rises up to contact the pha-ryngeal walls and seal the oral cavity posteriorly. As the ton-gue and jaw drop during sucking, the oral cavity increases in.

Babies born with a cleft lip and/or palate may have a harder time feeding. A baby with a cleft lip alone may be able to feed normally or with a little help depending on the size of the cleft. Babies with a cleft palate usually need to use a special feeding system so …

Feeding challenges put babies with a cleft palate at risk for failure to thrive. Regular weight checks by your baby's doctor or the cleft team can help make sure your baby is gaining enough weight. Sometimes babies fed with a specialty system still have feeding problems or …

A baby born with cleft lip and palate, or cleft palate only, has an opening in the roof of her mouth -- between the mouth and nose. This prevents her from making the suction or vacuum, which is needed to pull milk from the nipple. As a result, even though a baby with a cleft has normal sucking and swallowing reflexes, she needs special

Babies with a cleft palate may need extra help to feed, which could include using specialised bottles and teats, or in some cases using a nasogastric (NG) tube. For babies with a cleft lip, the size and shape of the cleft may make forming a seal around the breast or bottle difficult.