Back from the 2nd Doc.

[SONIA]

Hallo to everyone!

We are back from our appointment with the 2nd cleft palate specialist.

The first said that operates at the 18 month of age.

The one who saw her yesterday said at about 12 months of age.

They both have their reasons for waiting so long, but my anxiety is the possibility of speech problems that may occur if she starts talking before the operation.

Has any of you the experience... ??? a baby that talk before the cleft palate operation and after the op talks properly??

[Mum from down under]

Sonia my son palate operation isn't until 12 - 15 months old. We have been give words to teach him to help with speech. I am far from worried about his speech. Maybe you could ask your doctors for words you could teach your little one. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

Cheers Trish

[SONIA]

Thank you Trish!
Any information or comment is valuable for me!
None told me before for words i can teach her... very interesting!!!

However do you have experience on feeding solids the baby?

My girl is 4,5 months and by the end of the 5th i will have to feed her solids... is there something i should keep in mind??

Thank you once more!!

[Heide]

Hello Sonia, Congratulations on your baby girl. Our 9 month old daughter was born with a bilateral cleft lip and palate, she has had her lip surgery and next month we meet with her cleft team to plan the palate surgery. I am not sure if it is different when dealing with only a cleft of the palate but it is my understanding that the palate surgery date is based upon a balancing of the interests of speech development and midline face growth. I have been trying to find information on this topic as am concerned both about the need for additional surgeries and possible speech therapy. I am not sure if you have a speech therapist yet or what your healthcare coverage situation is, but it may be beneficial to meet with one at some point. Some speech therapists even specialize in feeding issues.

Starting solids was a bit more challenging with our new little one than with our first daughter (no cleft) and, for us, the hardest thing is the sneezes while she is eating - she hates that. We started on solids after 6 months. I found that it actually helped to make the food a little less runny (with baby cereal); she seemed to have an easier time moving it in her mouth. Our pediatrician also recommended using a saline nasal spray before eating to help avoid getting things stuck in the nose area (she also hates this so I don't do it a lot but it does seem to help).

All the best, may you get a good nights sleep :) and I hope you find this helpful. Heide