Breastfeeding & Bottle Feeding

Posted on by The Cleft Dentist

Can I breastfeed my cleft baby?

This is a common question with new moms. After all, we know that breastfeeding has many benefits both for the mother and the baby, including but not limited to:

  • protects against allergies
  • easier on the baby’s stomach than formula
  • reduces risk of viruses and bacterial infections
  • reduces risk of ovarian and breast cancer in moms
  • more rapid uterine healing for mom
  • bonding with baby

Breastfeeding exclusively is recommended for the baby’s first 6 months of life. Breastfeeding is HARD, whether the baby has a cleft or not. So it’s important to realize that and not be quick to give up.

I just recently attended a Craniofacial Meeting where the presenter, a speech pathologist, discussed breastfeeding and bottle feeding cleft babies.

She mentioned how babies with a cleft lip only are usually able to breastfeed successfully. The only thing that needs to happen in order to do so is a seal. Babies, surprisingly, with a cleft lip are able to create a seal around the nipple, regardless of the cleft in the lip. 

The seal is created by the breast or mom’s finger.

A hissing sound Indicates the seal is not adequate.  At this point, it is important to reposition the baby to create the proper seal.

What about cleft palate babies?

This is a little more difficult. Sometimes, if the cleft palate is smaller, the breast may be able to cover the palate. In many situations though, a bottle is needed to for this task. The reason is because it is difficult for the baby to create a suction.

Feeding your baby expressed breast milk will still offer the many benefits of breastfeeding, including reduced middle ear infections, which are common in cleft babies!

Bottles for cleft babies

There are many options out there for bottle feeding your cleft baby, but the most successful ones are as follows:

Special Needs Feeder by Medela

This is nice because you can control the flow rate just by squeezing on the bottle. This is important because since the baby cannot suck by himself, you can help express the milk for the baby.

There are 3 different flows for this bottle. The valve is sensitive to the baby’s feeding, even with the weakest amount of sucking, and completely closes when the baby pauses sucking. 

It is so important to get help from a Cleft Nurse Specialist regarding bottle feeding. The nurses in the hospital do not use this bottle every day, so it’s best to receive training from those who are experts with these bottles.

Dr. Brown’s Specialty Feeding System with a One-way Valve

This bottle looks exactly like the normal Dr. Brown’s bottles, but it has a valve that is inserted into the bottle. The valve works the same way as the Medela bottle, where it helps the infant with self-regulation during the feedings. 

The only difficulty with this bottle is that there are many parts, so it may be hard at first to assemble all the pieces. 

The difference between this bottle and the Medela is that you do not squeeze the milk into the baby’s mouth. The bottle releases the bolus of milk without a squeezing mechanism, so it helps with self-regulation.

Watch this video for a tutorial.

My Story

I don’t know much about how I was fed as a baby, but I know there were only 2 people who were able to successfully feed me: my mom and grandma.

My mom would constantly tell me stories about how they had to feed me from a cup. I’m not sure if these specialty bottles were as prevalent when I was young, but I was not fed from a bottle. 

They would use a medicine cup and fill it with formula and slowly drip it into my mouth. This seems very tedious and difficult! I’m glad these bottles are a resource for families now. 

As always, please feel free to comment or reach out to me about a topic you’d like more information on. Thank you for reading!