for those with cleft palates..

greens13

 Jackson has been using a normal bottle up to now one that is squeezable and has gained weight just fine actually gaining 10-11 oz a week! The nutristionist we see is not content with that bottle saying that he is not sucking enough and needs to develop a healthy sucking habit- which makes sense to me. We tried the Haberman and he did not like that bottle at all so the one that seemed to work the best when she was feeding him was the pigeon bottle- with the old bottle he was eating 4 oz every 2.5 -3 hours and today with this new bottle he can't even get 2 oz down and it is taking him so very long and ends up leaving a little under an oz..which is to me very counterproductive and just wearing him out- is this normal the first few days? Does he just need to adjust to the bottle? I am concerned that he is going to lose weight this way, I just want the best for him. DH is extremely frustrated and says he doesn't care what she says and wants him eating more- so its causing problems between us because I feel like we need to do what she is advising..  What are your experiences with this bottle? Any input will be greatly appreciated! TIA

Adriamichelle83

Hi! My DD also has a cleft palate along with some other issues that caused her tongue to be sewed down, so she had severe sucking issues. We have had major success with the haberman nipple though. She didn't like it at first, and then we realized we were using a nipple that was too short, they have 2 separate ones with different lengths, make sure that's not the issue. We never tried the pigeon one, so I'm no help to you there, but I just know how great she's done with the Haberman once we fixed that issue. Give it time too, the first couple of months are very trying, S lost quite a bit of weight until we figured everything out, plus she had reflux so we had to switch her formula. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.

rsd12

Your son is so handsome!

My oldest was born with a cleft lip/palate, & we started with the pigeon bottles.  Never tried anything & it worked great for us.  Honestly, babies with clefts can't suck.. so I am confused on the "healthy sucking habit" - he is not going to figure that until he has his palate surgery.  I do suggest using Y cut nipples though - that will help him get more out too.  What I loved about the bottles/nipples we used were that they mimicked the sucking action by having a valve at the base of the nipple - https://www.galtak.com/b915.html. So we really did not have to squeeze the bottle to help. 

Feel free to let me know if you have any other questions, I know how difficult things are the first few months & how easy it is to 2nd guess.  Things do get easier!

C&H

I went through this with my ds. He was a preemie in the NICU and the OT's kept pushing the pigeon for him but I felt he did best with the haberman. As long as he isn't working to hard to eat with the old bottle I say go with your instinct and what you feel is right for him.

chefs_baby

Your son is so beautfiul! It makes me miss Keegan's wide smile.

Babies with clefts cannot form a suction so I don't understand what exactly she is wanting. We use a pigeon and he chews the nipple. Maybe she wants something more like that? I don't know. We have palate surgery next month and he will be weaned off the bottle before it. He has started chewing on his thumb and his tongue looks like it is sucking. Are you only squeezing his old bottle? Maybe they want something where he is actually doing more work and mimicking sucking? He would need time to adjust to a new bottle because if before you were only squeezing the bottle and now he is having to work a little harder for it, then he would need time to adjust.

I hope this helps and feel free to PM me if you need more help. I am usually on the 6-12 or 2nd tri

greens13

Thanks everyone! We are back to the old bottles because he just refuses the pigeon nipple- he is drinking the milk on his own-(no squeezing from us anymore)  I cut the nipple on all of those to begin with which is why i think it's easier for him to eat with those. To me it looks like he can suck and or does the motion on it- when i try putting him to the breast I will feel a suck for a minute or so until he can't keep it any longer so my momma instincts kicked in and I just said whatever he'll eat with we'll stay with- I can't have my little man go hungry!

Chefs_baby-  Thankyou We met with the surgeon a few weeks ago and I already don't know if I can go thru with his surgery- I cried thru the whole meeting just talking about it- I love his smile as it is but I know it's something we have to do! Good luck with his palate surgery! That one makes me really nervous- Well be sending T&P's your way!

greens13

rsd12:

Your son is so handsome!

My oldest was born with a cleft lip/palate, & we started with the pigeon bottles.  Never tried anything & it worked great for us.  Honestly, babies with clefts can't suck.. so I am confused on the "healthy sucking habit" - he is not going to figure that until he has his palate surgery.  I do suggest using Y cut nipples though - that will help him get more out too.  What I loved about the bottles/nipples we used were that they mimicked the sucking action by having a valve at the base of the nipple - https://www.galtak.com/b915.html. So we really did not have to squeeze the bottle to help. 

 Feel free to let me know if you have any other questions, I know how difficult things are the first few months & how easy it is to 2nd guess.  Things do get easier!

Thankyou!!  You make so much sense I never thought about them not being able to suck to begin with until his surgery!