Pigeon special feeding bottle

[ireneor83]

Hi, I'm new here. I have just given birth to a baby girl with a cleft palate.
She is a month old now but her weight gain is still very little and she is now drinking only 1.5-2 oz every 3 hrs. Is this normal?

Kind of worried as she is getting frustrated during every feeding...
I suspect her feeding amount is so little due to her suckling problem and she looks rather hungry. Can anyone advise whether I should have the regulator in the pigeon teat when I'm feeding my baby.. how does the regulator work?

Also can l give my girl a pacifier? Will it affect her wound after surgery (which will take place when she is between 6 to 12 mths)..

Thanks so much..

Irene

[karleysmom]

Hi Irene, I'm also new to the board and I was wondering the same thing about feeding. Karley is also a month old and will only drink anywhere from 1 oz to sometimes 2 1/2 oz at a feeding every three hours. When we first brought her home she kept losing weight and not gaining so our pediatrician put her on a 22 calorie formula. It seems to be working because she has gained since we've changed to it but she still isn't drinking that much. I'd also like to know is that normal?

We have given Karley a pacifier and asked our cleft palate nurse if it was okay and she said it was fine. I might ask your doctor about it though to be sure for your baby.

[Z-Pup]

Irene,

YES most def. you should put the valve into the nipple when you feed your baby. What happens with this nipple is that it's soft on the bottom of the nipple so that the baby's tongue can control the flow of the milk. The valve will make sure that there is milk in the nipple for the baby. When the nipple is squeezed the milk will flow into the nipple and the valve will keep it there so that it doesn't go back into the bottle.

My Zachary was born 9-21-06 with a unilateral cleft lip and palate. He now weighs over 14 pounds!!! He has had no problem gaining weight. He uses the Pigeon Bottles exclusively. And he is not able to use a regular bottle because he doesn't have the sucking ability because he is not able to get a suction on the nipple. He is 3 months old and drinks about 6oz of milk every 3.5-4 hours!

Put the valve into the nipple, making sure the flat part goes to the top of the nipple, make sure you put the notch in the nipple to the roof of your babies mouth, so that the soft part of the nipple is on the bottom where her tongue can push against it and I am almost positive you will see a drastic change in her eating habits once she gets used to the nipple and the flow.

Hope that helps!!

[sodapop]

Irene,

Hi my name is Maria. I have a four and a half month old girl named Vada. She was born with a unilateral left cleft lip/palate. When she was about a month to two months she only ate 3 oz at most every 3 1/2 to 4 hours. I would not worry about that unless she seems very fussy because she is still hungry or she is not gaining weight like the docs think she should be. I was told in the special care nursery that they will eat enough for their bodies and they will let you know how much and how often that should be as it can vary from child to child. They wont usually eat too much and if they do they spit up. My daughter uses the haberman feeder. It has been the only bottle she has been able to use since birth. The hospital tried to get me to use the pigeon bottle and the mead johnson bottle when she was about two weeks old. She actually went on protest. Stopped eating for 3 feedings in a row and we ended up taking her to the emergency room where she ended up in the special care nursery. They gave her the haberman and fed her after i pumped and she ate just fine. Turns out the delivery nurse had not instructed me on the right way to use the haberman. Anyways, she does great now. She is getting cute little rolls. Defintely no more feeding problems. The haberman has been the bottle to work for us. As for a pacifier, that is a personal choice for the most part. Vada had colic the first 3 months so i tried to use one but she never took to it and prefers her hands once she found them. Write back if you have any more questions or just want to talk. Have a good one!

Maria

[jacksmom]

Irene, HI! My name is Allison and I have a six month old who also has a cleft palate. We had the same problems when he was younger, and ended up switching to the Haberman feeder. For some reason, it seemed that he just had an easier time with that. It is so frustrating when you don't feel like they are getting enough to eat! They don't ever get full, and you don't ever get any sleep! I definitely know the feeling! Just keep trying different things until you figure out what works with your little one! They are all so different! Jackson still only takes about 5 to 6 ounces at a time, and refuses to eat all baby food! I guess there will always be issues until we get these little mouths fixed! Hang in there!
Allison

[Mum from down under]

Hi Irene welcome to the group. We used the Haberman feeder until about 2 months ago when Evan decided he much rather take his milk from the pigeon bottle. ( That would be right I had just ordered 5 haberman bottles from U.S) We did have issues with feeding @ first but now we have a great little feeder Evan is now 8 months old & weighs 10kg. Solids have not been a problem @ this stage we are only feeding him fruit & veggies. (Only my own home cooked food though) Good luck with your little girl.

[gc0447]

For: "ireneor83":

Dear Irene,

Hello. My name is Georgette Couvall (Dr. Salyer's patient: http://www.worldcf.org). How are you? Happy New Year to you. Here is my Personal Story link:

http://www.worldcf.org/support_groups.cfm (Craniofacial anomalies)

I'm from Illinois. If you don't mind me asking, where are you from? Just wondered.

By the way, there are two other Cleft websites that also have Message Boards:

http://www.cleft.org
http://www.craniology.org

Sincerely,

Georgette Couvall
georgettecouvall@hotmail.com (Email)

[gc0447]

Dear Irene (ireneor83):

I'm sorry. Here is the other Cleft website that also has a Message Board:

http://www.cleftadvocate.org

Thanks.

Sincerely,

Georgette Couvall
http://www.worldcf.org/support_groups.cfm (Craniofacial anomalies)

[ireneor83]

Dear all,

Thank you so much for all your replies & advises.. Really glad that I've found this forum. Was so lost and upset when I just gave birth and cried for the whole of 2 weeks..

Z-pup, I tried your method of feeding & it works!! Thks a lot.

Georgette, I am from Singapore and baby Clarice is my second child (soft palate).

Lots of love
Irene

[heather]

My son is using the pigeon nipples. They work for him really well. Every child is different, but the pigeon allows him to feed himself at his own rate. The harder he pushes on the nipple, the more formula he gets. He is two months old now and is still only taking 4 oz. every two to three hours. He is also very small for his age. He was only 8 lbs. about two weeks ago. I would say that your baby girl is pretty normal with her feedings. Does she look skinny? Probably why you say she looks hungry? My son is very skinny still. I think they just go hand in hand. As long as her diapers are wet and she has weight gain she is doing well. And just hang in there. It gets better. Heather

[cadiesmom]

Just wanted to weigh in on the pigeon nipple and tell you that Z pups advice is right on the money. We switched from the haberman to the pigeon at 2 months and have never looked back. Additional information though, we found the nipple works better on the standard playtex ventair bottle as we have a lot less nipple collapse. Also, the fact that our baby could regulate her own intake was a huge bonus for us. Cadie is 9 months old now and "fat and happy". Incidentally, she still only takes between 5 and 6 ounces per feeding.

[lynn81]

when kadyn was a baby he used the pigeon bottles. he did really well with them. he also had weight gaining issues. his dr decided to put him on a high calorie diet. which isnt complicated. its just a different way to mix the formula.... its less water to every scoop of formula. if you are worried that she is not gaining enuf talk to ur dr about it. they may recomend the high calorie diet for a period of time till her growing starts to regulate better.
lynn

[jaimea]

Sweetheart,
You definately have to make sure you have the white part inside the nipple. If it is not in place, the baby cannot get any formula. You would think that the baby would be able to get more milk without it, but the white piece forms suction that is needed. This should definately help the baby with getting enough to eat, and with its satisfaction level. I have a 14 month old and we have used the Pigeon nipples since birth with no problems. I wish you all the best, hope this was helpful.