FEEDING AFTER PALATE SURGERY

[JOANK16157@AOL.COM]

My grandson is going to have palate surgery in two weeks. He
will not be able to use his haberman feeder or eat normally for
three weeks. What are some feeding techniques for this recovery
period? He will also have arm restraints on. He is 10 months old
now. Thank you for any information. Joan Krotenberg
JoanK16157@aol.com

[Kate]

It's easy to sweat it, but your grandson will make it. Our son
had the repair at 10 months. We had swelling compications and
were in the hospital for 5 days. Even so, on that 5 day he ate.
The kids eat when they are ready. He did not eat until the 5th
day. That was why we stayed so long. He had liquids for 7 days
and had soft foods from then on for about 3 weeks. The pain
wasn't really a problem. It was hard for him to get used to
having a roof to his mouth, but he and I loved not to have food
come out of his nose. His ear infections completely disappeared
after this too. I was a little bit liberal with the arm restaints
and let him take them off when I was around. I just made sure
that he couldn't put anything in his mouth. Also, I got a big
stack of styrofoam cups and dish towels set in my kitchen. I
would sit him on my lap, put a towel under his chin, bend in the
edges of the cup, and let him drink. he liked this and the cup
was very soft. We got alot o fluid down this way. Good luck..Kate
bsoderstrom@ameritech.net