New here...looking for suggestions

[Augiesmom]

Hi, I am new to the board although I have been visiting for a while. I have a 7 mos old baby boy (Augustus, we call him Augie) born with a BLCLP. He had his lip repair surgery back in November and that went very well. He is scheduled to have his palate surgery on June 21st. We have been told that he needs to be off the bottle by the time of his surgery. We use a haberman bottle with him and he is currently eating baby food three times a day. We are having problems getting him to use a sippy cup due mostly to the akwardness because of his premaxilla kind of blocking the way and although he likes to play with the cup is not particularly interested in drinking out of it. Does anyone have any suggestions on how we can get him off the bottle in the next three mos? Thanks.

[gc0447]

For: Augiesmom:

Hello. My name is Georgette Couvall (Dr. Salyer's patient: http://www.worldcf.org). Welcome to the group. How are 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.

I wish the best for you and your family.

Sincerely,

Georgette Couvall
georgettecouvall@hotmail.com (Email)

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

[Augiesmom]

I'm in California.

[Heide]

Hi Augies Mom,
Surprisingly after our daughter's (bclp) surgery in February, the plastic surgeon said our cleft palate bottle was ok (its a Mead one). We had been working on a tippy cup, also with limited success. I purchased one with a soft spout and cut the holes a little bigger, it seemed to work better than the hard spout ones. We seemed to have the most success just having her drink straight from a little cup - perhaps this may work for you also. Good luck on your surgery, for us, the first 10 days were pretty tough; she barely slept at all in the hospital and then slept only 1-2 hours at a time at home. By the third week, thankfully, things had completely turned around. Welcome to the group. Heide

[Augiesmom]

Hi Heide,
Funny, after I posted yesterday, the thought occurred to me that we could try just having the baby drink out of a cup. I will look for a soft spout sippy cup. I have to say, the days after the lip repair weren't easy because Augie was just uncomfortable in general (arm restraints, nose conformers, etc) but he handled it with grace and so,in that way, we are not looking forward to the palate repair. It will be good to be past these two surgeries. Has the surgery made a big difference in your daughter's life? Thanks for the welcome and the help.

[Heide]

Hi Again,

Your comment about the cup idea is funny to me because yesterday I had a somewhat similar experience. In particular, yesterday I posted about transitioning to toddler foods because our little one would not put any food in her mouth. Then, last night, when unattended, she decided to try doggie kibble (bad mommy) - after getting the kibble piece back, I offered her a "biter biscuit" which she immediately started chewing on :) - we will see how it goes now.

Looking back on the two surgeries, the lip surgery was such a quick and dramatic change, with her changed appearance, the fact that taping was no longer a daily requirement and the lessening fear that she would be treated differently. Yet, as the weeks pass since the palate surgery, it is definitely more dramatic for her development. She is beginning to show more control moving her baby food around; at first she still had some coming out of her nose (she has a little gap still behind her front teeth) but now that has almost stopped. She is also making more of a range of noises, so I definitely believe it was time for her to minimize speech issues.

My thoughts are with you as your son's surgery approaches, it is so stressful but just think of the relief when it is done and you will get a break in the procedures to get on with the normal little baby/toddler life. Have a nice weekend. Heide

[Augiesmom]

Hi,
The kibble story is funny. Any way you can get them to eat... .

I know what you mean about the lip repair. It was such a dramatic difference in his appearance and the results were great and yes, he now basically has the appearance of any 7 mos old. Augie is on stage 2 baby food and he does very well. Recently, on a check up visit with his cleft team, his plastic surgeon said we no longer needed to use his feeding appliance and since we have stopped using it, he has so much less food coming out of his nose when he eats and a lot less sneezing when he eats which used to result in a lot of food and other stuff coming out of his nose. I am glad that your daughter is past the "hard part" of her recovery. I look forward to being there.

Nice talking to you. Have a great weekend. Ellyn

[HollyBee]

I read about having them drinking from a cup before palate surgery but is this for hard palate? I asked my surgeon about this for my little guy's soft palate cleft (only) and he said that he would be able to take the bottle...... any input on this????