Page 4 - Celtlippalate1_FeedingTips

Guidelines for feeding the children
with cleft lip and / or palate:

1. Positioning the Baby: Babies with clefts often feed
best while seated upright or slightly inclined

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2. Positioning the Nipple: The nipple must be placed
under the palate where there is no cleft.

3. Pacing during Feeding: Small, frequent feedings are
recommended. Carefully control the ow of milk. This
can be achieved by squeezing the bottle rhythmically
when the baby is sucking and stopping if the baby
seems upset.

4. Oral Facilitation: Use hand and ngers to help keep
the baby's mouth around the nipple during feeding.

5. Managing Liquid in the Nose: If milk comes through
the nose, seat the baby up a little more and then
squeeze less frequently to make the milk go down
towards the belly.
6. Oral care: Clean the area around the cleft using a wet
washcloth after each feeding
7. Prevent swallowing of air: Burp the baby frequently.
Babies with cleft swallow more air than other babies

8. Breast milk: If attempts at breast
feeding are not successful, the mother
can use a breast pump to get milk.
Then the baby can drink milk from
specialized bottle. Breast pump