Posted by Jenn
on 4/30/2009, 8:34 am, in reply to "Cleft Palate Repair Questions, Pre & Post -op"
74.84.91.83
Hi Rachael,
My daughter was a little younger when she had the palate surgery (7 months) and you might get some responses from others who had it done closer to Brody's age but here's what we experienced:
Bottles - will they let you use a bottle? We used a y-cut dr. brown nipple and made the hole a bit larger. This is still what we use as she did not learn to suck to use a regular bottle.
Snuggle Wraps - we bought them and to be honest only really used them a few nights as she could slide them right off. She was able to slide the ones from the hospital off too. I'd be happy to send you ours so you don't have to buy new ones. We were glad to have the option at the time. Where do you live?
We wore the snuggle wraps for less than 2 weeks but were told originally 3 weeks. We caled our doctor when they kept sliding off and they told us to put a sock over her hands and it would be ok for her to bite on that. At night we used the snuggle wraps and the socks so when the snuggle wraps came off she could only get to the socks. Maya was a thumb sucker too so this was hard. Needless to say she no longer sucks her thumb.
Feedings post-op: this was very slow going. The first couple of days she didn't eat and thn we started some siringe feedings for maybe a day or two. Then we went to the bottle that we were using before (w/ nipple cut)and she would take like 2 ounces a feed and then a little more each day or two. It was a good 4 weeks after the surgery that she was eating like she was prior to surgery. She still does not suck, but bites down on the nipple. She does hold a paci in her mouth but doesn't really suck it either.
Hope this info helps. Feel free to email directly anytime if you have more questions or if you want me to send thoe snuggle wraps.
--Previous Message--
: Hello everyone,
: My son is scheduled to have his palate
: repaired May 26th. He will be 11 months old
: and this will be his 5th surgery so I have
: an idea of what to expect at the hospital
: and am hopeful that we will even get some of
: the same nurses in PICU we had before. I
: just had some concerns mainly about what to
: do after the surgery...
:
: What type/brand of bottles & sippy cups
: would you suggest?
: Should we buy snuggle wraps?
: How long will he have to wear the no nos/
: snuggle wraps?
: How will feedings be post-op?
:
: Brody does have a mic-key so we know that we
: have the option of feeding him through it,
: but he loves to eat and I am concerned that
: he will miss eating post-op. Also, he is a
: thumb sucker :/ so that will be difficult
: too. Thank you for your help, I am sure I
: will be posting with more questions soon.
: Thanks,
: Rachael
:
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