Surgical repair is most often a staged process.
Some of the surgeries will be done when a child is very young and some when the child is older and more fully developed. Some surgeries may not be done until adolescence. Surgeries are planned to coincide with your child's facial growth. Your craniofacial surgeon at Children's will explain what types of surgery your child may need and when they may occur. The first surgery your child will have is to repair the cleft lip and rebuild muscles and tissues around his mouth and nose.