cleft lip and high palet

[jnwtorres8520@msn.com]

hello
my son has what they say was the start of cleft lip and his palet is in tackt but very high and i am brestfeeding and canot get him to take a bottle because of this palet is high and he has a hard time sucking on a nipple i am trying every thing and every nipple but no luck. any suggestions.. thank wen

[Judy]

Experiment with enlarging the holes on the nipple. Make it big enough that the milk drips out on it's own slowly, but not so fast that it chokes the baby. The baby will not have to work so hard to eat this way, but still has the satisfaction of doing his own sucking. Get a breast pump so you can fill the bottles with breast milk. Good luck!

[Jeff Alterman]

Check to see if your son has a submucous cleft palate. I have a high palate myself and there is a submucous cleft in my hard palate. My soft palate is intact however. I too have the slightest hint of a harelip. Thankfully it isn't disfiguring. Jeff Alterman at alterman@bestweb.net