Posted by holly
on 12/1/2008, 4:20 pm, in reply to "Re: Distraction surgery"
68.58.169.12
I cant believe the feeding specialist told you not to squeeze the nipple! That is the way the bottle is designed!!! After time, they get better and better and the less you will have to help. My daughter didn't have distraction surgery, so she still has quite the over bite making it harder for her to munch on the bottle right, but now she can almost take a bottle by herself. I am sure this will be the case for you. I am sure that your feedings will get much better from now on. What i found best was to use the fastest flow. I used a mini haberman for the first couple of months because the standard one seem to be to long for Kates mouth. She didn't like how it put the milk right into her cleft. I would hold the nipple like you would hold a pencil. Squeeze the nipple every time they make a swallowing motion(as the jaw closes). You may have to squeeze a little in his mouth to get him swallowing. When he starts just keep going with his "sucking" and swallowing pattern. You don't continuously squeeze(that would be like someone hold a cup up to your mouth and just pouring it in...not easy to do!). It is more of a pumping motion. I don't know if this makes sense to you or not....it worked for us. Once the two of you get into a rythm you will see how easy it can be. Kate also did better with her milk warmed. I am a nursery nurse, and whenever i have a newborn that wont take to formula, i always warm a little...they seem to always accept it better. Anyways....this got a little long..sorry. Best of luck and keep us posted on his progress!
--Previous Message--
: Hi Holly - any tips would be greatly
: appreciated! The feeding specialist didn't
: want me to squeeze the nipple, but his
: surgeon just stopped in today and said I
: SHOULD be squeezing as much as he'll
: tolerate. I am going to give it a shot
: tonight with the squeezing and will
: hopefully get better results.
:
: --Previous Message--
: Hey Lori....I am so glad to hear that your
: little one made it through surgery ok and is
: doing well! The feeding thing can be
: frustrating. My Kate always took the bottle
: fine, but it took a lot of work at first.
: Are you helping him get the milk from the
: haberman by squeezing it or just letting him
: "munch" on it? I could give you a
: few tips on it if you want. It seems like a
: pretty simple concept, but there are a few
: "tricks" to the trade. Anyways...
: i will continue to pray for you and your
: little one during his recovery.
: Holly
:
: --Previous Message--
: It has been a week and a half since my son's
: distraction surgery. In my opinion, it has
: been a complete miracle. He now has zero
: breathing issues and is able to lay on his
: back no problem. Now we have to tackle the
: feeding issue. So far he is only able to
: get a little bit out of the Haberman at each
: feeding. How long did it take before your
: child was able to feed exclusively from a
: bottle?
:
: --Previous Message--
: Lori,
: My son is 6 months old and had his jaw
: distracted at 6 weeks of age. We chose this
: surgery because we could no longer control
: his choking episodes by repositioning him.
: If he was awake he was choking. The surgery
: and recovery were very scary and intense but
: it completely corrected his recessed chin
: and breathing issues. After the surgery he
: thrived and gained weight quickly. He leads
: a completely normal life now. Our ENT would
: only encourage this surgery if the child was
: having severe breathing and feeding
: problems. Please feel free to contact us if
: you have any questions.
:
: --Previous Message--
: My son was just diagnosed with PRS. He is
: three weeks old and was born six weeks
: premature. His doctor is scheduling
: distraction surgery for Friday to open his
: airway and help with his feeding issues.
: Any advice on what to expect after the
: surgery? We are just starting to gather
: information on PRS and distraction. Any
: personal experiences you are willing to
: share would be much appreciated!
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
Message Thread:
« Back to thread