by Z-Pup » Sun Nov 25, 2007 7:38 am
Zach had his palate repair when he was 9 months old.
He wasn't ready for solids until about 7 months old. We tried earlier (5-6 months) and he just wasn't ready. But if your lil one is ready then there is no reason to not try and see what happens. The WORST thing that will happen is that it comes out of his nose. Zach really didn't have a problems with this, we just kept a wash clothe near by and kept him wiped up.
But regular baby food was just too thin...he needed it thicker to be able to move it to the back of his mouth. A non cleft affected child uses their tongue to move the food along the roof of their mouth until it gets to the back where they can swallow it. A cleft palate child has problems with this! We would put oatmeal cereal in the store bought baby food to make it thicker for him. This in turn constipated him LOL. SO then I started making his baby food. But soon after that he refused a spoon and went directly to finger foods. He was self feeding before palate repair.....for example he'd eat....banana's, grilled cheese, peaches, ANYthing he could pick up and put in his mouth!!!
After palate repair he had to go back to baby food for a week or so....Doc said two weeks, but Zach wasn't having that! LOL
But I say if your lil one is showing signs that he is ready for solid food I would so give it a shot! The VERY DAY I started solids 3 times a day at 7 months old he slept thru the night!!!!! OMG how wonderful that was!!
Lots of Love,
Tia
Zachary 9-21-06 Unilateral Cleft Lip & Palate lovingly called Z-Pup after Daddy, who btw is O-Dawg.