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One in every 700 babies is born with a cleft lip, a cleft palate, or both—making it one of the most common birth defects. Babies born with a cleft lip and/or palate need special care from a team of different health professionals. Their care must be well managed because of the difficult medical, surgical, dental, and social factors important to treatment decisions. To help pediatricians better manage children with cleft lip/palate, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) published the clinical report, "The Primary Care Pediatrician and the Care of Children with Cleft Lift and/or Cleft Palate." The following information explains these recommendations to parents and families involved in caring for a baby born with a cleft lip and/or palate. Different Types of Cleft Lip and/or Palate:The type of cleft lip and/or palate a child has will determine the kind of care that he or she needs.
Detecting Cleft Lip and/or Palate:Many, but not all, parents know in advance that their newborn infant will have a cleft lip from the prenatal ultrasound. The mother's doctor or the baby's future doctor can help parents meet with experts—called a cleft/craniofacial team. Prenatal consultation involves parents meeting various members of the cleft/craniofacial team and learning about the care of children born with cleft lip. Normally, a cleft palate is not seen until after a baby has been born. A nurse, a doctor, or a parent may notice that the top of the mouth looks different. The cleft palate may involve most or just the farthest part of the roof of the mouth. Common Concerns from Parents:Being the parent of a newborn with a cleft lip, cleft palate, or both can feel overwhelming. Simple things like feeding your baby might now be more complicated. Parents wonder how people may react when they see their baby has a cleft lip. Parents also worry how the cleft lip or cleft palate will affect their child long-term—socially and developmentally. If you are worrying about any of these things or others, talk with your child's pediatrician. He or she can help answer questions and even direct you to a parent support group near you. Feeding a Baby with Cleft Lip and/or Palate:In general, babies with a cleft palate either as cleft lip with cleft palate or cleft palate alone, suck weakly and need a special bottle to feed. Support from a feeding therapist, certified lactation consultant, and/or nurse experienced in feeding children with cleft palate is recommended for parents. A baby born with a cleft lip without cleft palate may also need extra help with feeding. However, most babies with cleft lip can feed from the breast or a normal bottle. This is also true for babies with cleft lip and cleft gum. Care and Treatment from the Cleft/Craniofacial Team:Various specialists will care for your child at different times and stages. The cleft/craniofacial team usually includes nurses, social workers, nutritionists, audiologists, speech-language pathologists, geneticists, pediatricians, dentists, orthodontists, and pediatric surgeons (otolaryngologists, oral and maxillofacial surgeons, and plastic surgeons). These providers understand common concerns and know the answers to parents' questions.
When Will My Child Need Surgery?The most common question parents have is, "When will my child have surgery to repair his or her cleft lip or cleft palate?" The AAP recommends initial reconstructive surgeries for cleft lip or cleft palate occur within the first year of life.
What Does a Cleft Look Like Before and After Surgery?It is common for parents to worry about how their child will look before and after the cleft lip and/or palate repair.
Additional Information & Resources:
The information contained on this Web site should not be used as a substitute for the medical care and advice of your pediatrician. There may be variations in treatment that your pediatrician may recommend based on individual facts and circumstances. How do you feed after cleft lip surgery?Drinking and Eating. Give 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.. What will be used to feed the infant after cleft lip repair?You can bottle or breastfeed your baby.
What equipment would be appropriate to use for feeding an infant who has undergone cleft lip/palate repair?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.
How do you feed a cleft patient?Babies with Cleft Lip
If cleft is unilateral, use of modified football method or straddle position (Fig. 1) may be helpful. In this method position the baby with cleft toward the breast, this allows the cleft to be tucked into the breast tissue and makes it easier for the baby.
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