1 University of Pittsburgh Cleft, Palate Center, Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
2 University of Pittsburgh Cleft Palate Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Standard pediatric texts accord scant attention to feeding problems in infants with cleft palate, dismissing them as mild and easily managed. Quite a different impression, however, is conveyed by retrospective accounts of parents' experience, which characterize the feeding process in such infants as laborious, time consuming, and anxiety provoking, with ingested volume often inadequate. Since actual studies of feeding and weight gain in infants with cleft palate have not been reported, the dimensions and implications of the problem remain uncertain.
When first seen at this Center, most infants under 1 year of age with cleft palate are undergrown. Weight gain has often averaged less than 500 gm monthly during the first few months of life, and histories of difficult feedingsoften prolonged to an hour or more in durationare the rule.
See image in the PDF file
See image in the PDF file
See image in the PDF file