To: Mary Dour-O'Neill RN IBLC
  My 4th child,Eliza, has an overt sub mucous cleft palate with the classic
triad of signs. She could not bf well right from the start, and also had some
nasal regurgitation. I asked the pediatrician for a thorough evaluation of
this before discharge, and was assured that the baby was perfectly healthy.
After 2 weeks of crying, poor sucking, clicking,and low output, another
pediatrician made the diagnosis.The next 2 1/2mos. were rough. It took over a
month to regain birth weight. Extensive trials with breastmilk fed through
SNS, fingerfeeding,and cups were slow, energy consuming, and unrewarding.
What finally helped us get over this hurdle was the Haberman feeder. During
feedings I always started with the breast and willed myself a letdown (I
concentrated on Niagara Falls), so that Eliza would maintain a breast
orientation. I then pumped my breasts while my husband Haberman fed EBM from
the previous pumping.This finally made the difference. Eliza was able to gain
wt., get stronger, and at 3 mos. was able to bf completely on her own.She is
still an avid nurser at 19 mos. It was a lot of work! I think that the hard
work of trying to suckle combined with the growth supported by EBM
supplementation allowed her to hypertrophy some of her muscles to eventually
provide an adequate suck.    I hope this helps. You can E-mail me if you need
further details.
Roberta Cricco-Lizza