Infants born with a cleft of the lip seldom have problems feeding. However, infants
born with a cleft of the palate most often will require a modification in feeding
technique. The cleft in the palate impairs the infant’s ability to suck effectively.
There are several bottles and nipples especially designed for infants with clefts.
Infants born with a cleft of the lip usually can breast feed without
difficulty. However, infants born with a cleft palate usually have difficulty in creating
enough suction to effectively breast feed. Infants can still benefit from breast milk by
having mom pump her breast and transfer the milk into the special feeding bottle.