Cleft Palate: Feeding Your Baby
Current as of: May 27, 2020
Author: Healthwise Staff
Medical Review: John Pope MD - Pediatrics & Kathleen Romito MD - Family Medicine & Adam David Schaffner MD, FACS - Plastic Surgery, Otolaryngology
Feeding a baby who has cleft palate can be a challenge. Your baby may have a problem making a tight seal between his or her mouth and the nipple. But with a little preparation, you can successfully feed your baby with breast milk or formula.
A health professional who specializes in babies with cleft palate can show you how to bottle-feed your baby in the best way. The health professional can also answer any questions you have about feeding problems.
During feeding:
During and after feeding, be sure to burp your baby often. Babies with cleft palate tend to swallow more air while feeding and may need more frequent burping than other babies.
If you want to breastfeed your baby, talk with a health professional or a breastfeeding (lactation) consultant. Although feeding your baby directly at the breast usually is very challenging and not always successful, you can use a breast pump to collect your breast milk in a bottle and then feed it to your baby. Try using the above bottle-feeding suggestions.
Current as of: May 27, 2020
Author: Healthwise Staff
Medical Review:
John Pope MD - Pediatrics
Kathleen Romito MD - Family Medicine
Adam David Schaffner MD, FACS - Plastic Surgery, Otolaryngology
Next Section:
Related InformationPrevious Section:
Topic OverviewNext Section:
CreditsPrevious Section:
Related InformationCurrent as of: May 27, 2020
Author: Healthwise Staff
Medical Review: John Pope MD - Pediatrics & Kathleen Romito MD - Family Medicine & Adam David Schaffner MD, FACS - Plastic Surgery, Otolaryngology
This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated, disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use . Learn how we develop our content .
To learn more about Healthwise, visit Healthwise.org .
© 1995-2020 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated.
Follow Us
Disclaimer
Individual and family medical and dental insurance plans are insured by Cigna Health and Life Insurance Company (CHLIC), Cigna HealthCare of Arizona, Inc., Cigna HealthCare of Illinois, Inc., and Cigna HealthCare of North Carolina, Inc. Group health insurance and health benefit plans are insured or administered by CHLIC, Connecticut General Life Insurance Company (CGLIC), or their affiliates (see a listing of the legal entities that insure or administer group HMO, dental HMO, and other products or services in your state). Group Universal Life (GUL) insurance plans are insured by CGLIC. Life (other than GUL), accident, critical illness, hospital indemnity, and disability plans are insured or administered by Life Insurance Company of North America, except in NY, where insured plans are offered by Cigna Life Insurance Company of New York (New York, NY). All insurance policies and group benefit plans contain exclusions and limitations. For availability, costs and complete details of coverage, contact a licensed agent or Cigna sales representative. This website is not intended for residents of New Mexico.
Selecting these links will take you away from Cigna.com to another website, which may be a non-Cigna website. Cigna may not control the content or links of non-Cigna websites. Details