Eyson's bottles

[heather]

Does anyone have some helpful information on what bottle to use? Should I have a variety ready to see what Eyson will take to? I'm not sure if I should wait until he's born to see if maybe all the prayers have been answered and he has his palate. Any suggestions?

[Julie Lauzon]

Hi. My son used the haberman feeder but every baby is different. Nicholas who just turned 3 on Sept 6, was born with a unilateral cleft lip and palate and that was the first bottle they gave him and he took right to it and never looked back. Talk with your cleft team and discuss the options. If you would like to talk and see pictures of Nicholas feel free to e-mail me at smiley52270@yahoo.com or jlauzon@unumprovident.com

take care
Julie Lauzon
mom to Nicholas ucl&p 3yrs old
Massachusetts

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[Kerri]

We were only offered the Mead Johnson bottle when she was born..It worked very well for us thought..At her 1st cleft clinic we were given the pigeon bottle..I wish we would have had that one when she was born because they do all the work themselves to get the milk out, but I hear the nipples wear down pretty quickly and the nipples get expensive..We didn't find out about Ella's cleft until she was born..I'd say try a few, see what you're both comfortable and stick with it..There are so many out there to try!

[sodapop]

When my daughter Vada was born the nurse showed us how to feed her with the haberman. It was working good and she was gaining weight during the couple of days after her birth while we were in the hospital still. Towards the end of the week she started being fussy, and by that weekend she stopped eating for two feedings in a row. I took her to Children's hospital where they tried feeding her with the pigeon bottle, which took her forever to feed with so she got frustrated and still wouldnt eat. Then they tried the mead johnson bottle, which seemed to work because she was so tired and frustrated she ate from it. So they sent us home with mead johnson bottles and nipples. By the next morning she had given up on feeding again. I think it is because she has a strong sucking reflex and she wants to use it even though her sucking isnt getting anything out of the bottle. Anyway we went to the emergency room at the hospital where i delivered. Her doctor wanted to possibly tube feed her and run all sorts of tests thinking there was something wrong with her, she was admitted to the special care nursery (which we found out later was where she should have been immediately following birth so they could give us special attention with feeding) and a wonderful nurse there said she told her doctor that she was not going to tube feed or run tests because Vada looked perfectly healthy except for her not eating and she felt maybe we should try to feed her with a nurse there. So first she fed her with the haberman and Vada sucked down 4 ounces right away! The nurse showed me how she was putting the nipple behind her gum and against her hard palate so she could feel that the bottle was there. After that, we stayed in the Special Care Nursery overnight and had a nurse watch each feeding until i got the hang of it. It was a very frustrating first week but we got through and in the past 4 weeks she has gone from 6lbs 2 ounces to 8 pounds 12 ounces. We really like the haberman, sorry this was such a long story, i havent been on the site for a while! I would reccomend though that you make sure you feel comfortable completely with feeding before you leave the hospital! If you don't, dont be afraid to ask for help! It is their job after all!

Maria

[Carrie]

I think you should call the hospital that you plan on delivering at and see what different types of bottles they have to try for a baby with cleft lip and palate. If they are a larger hospital they might have a good selection but if not then call your cleft lip and palate team and see if they have any samples that you can have to try them out.
The hospital that I delivered at tried to use a regular nipple and when he wouldn't get much from it, they shipped us to another hospital that was more familiar with cleft babies and we were able to try a couple different bottles there.
We used the haberman as well after trying the Mead Johnson bottle. The only problem that I have had is trying to get my kid off of it... anyone have any suggestions? He's had his surgeries but still has a slight opening in the palate towards his teeth.
Carrie