A cleft in the palate means that your baby may have difficulty in sucking effectively as he or she is unable to create a good vacuum inside the mouth, and correctly position the tongue. Plates Not all teams are agreed on the benefits of using feeding and orthopaedic plates from birth so do ask if and why a plate is considered necessary for your baby.
Some teams use a small feeding plate for the baby to wear in the roof of the mouth.
Winding Normally when we swallow the palate closes to stop us swallowing air from our nose. Babies with a cleft palates cannot do this so they will swallow air when they feed. If your baby appears windy try the methods suggested earlier in the introduction. Milk may pass into the nose and cause sneezing or some milk may come down the nose if your baby is being sick. Breastfeeding This is possible and works well when the cleft is small or narrow.