How to choose a suitable bottle for a baby with cleft lip and palate?

Children with cleft lip and palate or cleft palate have difficulty in forming negative pressure in their mouths before surgery due to their abnormal oral structure. They have weak sucking power and difficulty sucking. You can choose some specially designed cleft lip and palate feeding bottles and nipples to help with feeding:

1. Bottle selection:

(1) Squeezable plastic bottles:

To help babies with poor sucking ability drink milk. You can choose a bottle with a softer body design and squeeze it with your hands during feeding to help deliver the milk to the baby's mouth.

(2) Most cleft lip and palate bottles are designed with one-way valves:

It prevents the milk in the nipple from flowing back into the bottle when the child's oral gums are squeezed, thereby increasing the efficiency of feeding.

2. Pacifier selection:

Choose a soft pacifier to reduce local friction irritation.

(1) Choose a relatively large pacifier:

Generally, pacifiers have round holes made of silicone, with relatively small flow rates and low feeding efficiency. Therefore, children with cleft lip and palate should choose relatively large pacifiers.

(2) Choose a "Y" or "X" shaped nipple:

Makes sucking easier.

(3) Supplementary feeding spoon:

Some bottles are equipped with a similar feeding spoon to help children eat milk.

In addition, attention should be paid to controlling the flow rate of milk: no matter what kind of bottle or nipple, when the bottle is at 45-60 degrees to the ground, squeeze the nipple part to simulate the child's gums biting and eating. The milk should flow out continuously but not too much, so as to avoid choking.

3. Representative products:

At present, the representative types of baby bottles for cleft lip and palate patients recommended by the American Cleft Lip and Palate Association and available in China include:

(1) Anti-inflation cleft palate bottle:

To avoid flatulence, there is a special guide tube in the bottle to prevent the child from inhaling more air. At the same time, there is a one-way valve to prevent the milk from flowing back into the bottle, making it easier for the child to suck the milk when squeezing the nipple. For children with less severe cleft palate, this type of bottle can be equipped with a nipple of the right size so that they can suck and eat independently.

(2) Cleft palate bottle:

The bottle is soft, and can be squeezed to help cleft palate children eat more milk. At the same time, it is also designed with a single-way restriction valve and can be equipped with a "Y" shaped nipple.

Special feeding bottles:

The nipple part is longer, so before feeding, the nipple should be filled with milk, and then the nipple can be squeezed to help the child suck more milk.

In addition, the nipple is in the shape of a "one", and the feeding flow rate can be adjusted by placing the nipple at different angles with the child's upper and lower jaws. The nipple has a flow mark and is easy to adjust, which can be suitable for children with different flow requirements.

At present, other types of domestic and foreign bottles can also be used if they meet the above conditions to better help children with cleft lip and palate eat.

Children have a certain adaptability to different nipples, so you can consider choosing one based on your child's adaptability. Each brand of bottle and nipple has detailed instructions, including details such as the direction of the air inlet during feeding, which can be installed and used according to the instructions.

summary

1. For children with cleft lip and palate or only cleft palate, special bottles and nipples for cleft lip and palate should be used when feeding, and the flow of milk should be controlled.

2. Currently, the representative types of cleft lip and palate baby bottles recommended by the American Cleft Lip and Palate Association and available in China include: Dr Brown's anti-inflation cleft palate bottle with restrictive valve, Pigeon cleft palate bottle, and Medela special feeding bottle.

3. You may consider choosing the type of bottle and nipple according to your child’s adaptability, and install and use them according to the corresponding instructions.