Eating problems the first year

[jowsto1@flash.net]

My son is 6 months old(born 9/23/97), born with a unilateral
cleft lip and palate. He has had his cleft lip repaired. The
palate will be repaired at 1 year due to the width of it when he
was born. I started him on solids at 4 months and he was very
eager to try, but each time he coughs a little, then sneezes and
the food comes through his nose and after a few sneezes he gets
fussy and is no longer interested in the current feeding. I
continue to try every day to get him to eat solids, but I feel
sorry for him each time he sneezes food through his nose because
I know this must be miserable for him (although he should be
somewhat use to it from the formula going through his nose from
time to time). I would like to know if anyone else has had these
problems and if it gets better after palate repair? Does this
mean he will be slow at starting solids? Please if you have ANY
comments let me know. THANK YOU!!!!!

[Leigh Anne]

My daughter is now 15 months old. She was born with a wide
unilateral cleft lip & palate. Yes, she sneezed a lot when
she ate cereals and baby foods. She would even sneeze crackers
thru her nose too. This was prior to the palate repair. I was
very intimidated by it. Yet the sneezing didn't seem to bother
her.



Ididn't introduce table foods until after her palate was
closed at 11 months old. And I regret not giving her a variety of
textured foods. I think it has put her behind in the eating
department. Now she refuses to eat foods that are really
different in texture like vegetables, fruits, pastas and meats.
She likes crackers, cheerios, cookies, breads and cheeses. So
it's a real challenge at dinner time.



Sometimes she still gets a little bit of food through her
nose. Her palate has a small hole in it next to the gum ridge. I
think foods that are highly acidic do aggravate her when it gets
in her nose.



It seems that kids that have clefts in their palate do learn
how to manipulate the food around so it doesn't get into the nose
all the time. You may notice that your child will get better at
swallowing as time passes.



If you want to talk e-mail me at <pbiai@sprynet.com>.

[Leigh Anne]

My email didn't get posted from my earlier reply for some
reason. Well here it is pbiai@sprynet.com.

[Lorna]

My daughter had a similar feeding problem and still
occasionally suffers a fits of the sneezes, although her surgery
repaired the majority fo the hole in her palate. The thing i
found it a struggle to do was just accept that this was a side
effect of her condition, and allow her to get into as much of a
mess as she wanted. The sneezing stops bothering them after a
while, and it is important to ensure that you child eats a varied
diet no matter what the after effects are. Six months is still
early for your son to be fully happy with solids anyway, so don't
worry too much, but for both yours and your baby's wellbeing,
please consider the following -



The sneezing is normal to them, so dont let it bother you
Persevere with solid food even before the repair. Some foods are
worse than others, but your son will let you know if there is
anything he really cant tolerate. Hard solid foods are often
easier for them to eat than more mushy foods (but of course teeth
are a big help at this stage) Keep offering the baby a drink to
clear away debris Keep up baby formulae for as long as possible.
It is a big help if the baby is off their food (having a cold is
murder if you have a cleft palate) Dont spoon feed in your best
clothes!



Most of all good luck, and make the best use possible of all
the help you can get! LMcLean727@aol.com