Comments on: Joys and Sorrows of Breastfeeding a baby with a cleft palate – Amanda and Ethan’s story

By: Becky

Becky — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:16:48 +0000

What an awesome story! My daughter had her cleft palate repair surgery 9 days ago and your story gave me the boost I needed to keep hope alive that we will get back to nursing. I was very fortunate in that I was able to nurse her for the past 9 months but now that the surgeon gave the go ahead to try nursing again she doesn’t want to. I know I should just be happy we made it this far but I just feel so sad thinking those days of snuggling her up and breastfeeding are behind me. I’m pumping constantly and my supply seems to decrease every day so I’m just hoping I can convince her to give it another try, hopefully when her pain subsides further before I have nothing left.
Thanks for sharing your story and giving me some hope!

By: Laira

Laira — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 05:43:02 +0000

Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful story! I read it awhile ago, but didn’t have a chance to comment because I was so exhausted. Your story gave me motivation to continue pumping and to put my daughter to my breast even when she refused. We have almost made it 4 months now! She is now able to nurse at my breast for 10 min or so while I compress the milk for her, then she takes pumped milk from a bottle. I sure hope we can breastfeed exclusively after her cleft palate surgery!
I hope all has continued to go well since your son’s surgery. Thank you again for sharing your story.

By: Amanda Dumouchel

Amanda Dumouchel — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 22:50:06 +0000

Hi Heather
It is very frustrating, I bought some higher grade medical tape that was a bit stickier and a bit more secure and taped it to my breast. Ethan never really had alot of success with the SNS, it most mostly to just keep him coming to breast long enough so that after his surgery he would still be willing to do it so that I could teach him how without the shield. I found that because I had to thread the tubing through and because it was awkward Ethan could never really get a good seal. We would usually do about 10min on each side and then I would just botle feed. Otherwise we were just so exhausted and frustrated, both of us. I got really skilled I would pump while I fed Ethan his bottle by putting the nursing pillow in my lap and his head propped up on it, bum in my lap so he was pretty much sitting up and then I would feed with the haberman while I pumped, it saved me so much time! Gave me enough energy to go a little longer.. I think that if you can try him each time even if its only for a few minutes he will keep coming to breast. When is your surgery scheduled for? Good luck!

By: Heather

Heather — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 06:33:52 +0000

Amanda,
thankyou so much for your story! I was devastated when I was told I can’t bf my son because of his soft cleft palate. He’s 6 weeks old tomorrow and it’s so tiring pumping all day, plus feeding him let alone all the other daily things we do! I just decided to bf for bonding if for nothing else the other day. I’m going to try a sns system but man the first time I tried it we both got super frustrated! I couldn’t keep the stupid thing under the breast shield, nor could I get both the shield and the tube in his mouth at the same time it was horrible!

By: Amanda Dumouchel

Amanda Dumouchel — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 23:36:28 +0000

Hi Jessica!
I put Ethan to breast prior to pumping every single time. Before his surgery I think it was 4 times in a 24 hr period. I would pump an extra time after he went to bed. The surgeon didn’t want Ethan sucking until 3 weeks post-op but I used a nursing system and squeezed it about 5 days post op to minimize the effort. I would be more than happy to answer any and all questions and chat with you. Send me an email amandamariehines@yahoo.ca Ethan is almost 19mths and he is doing so fabulously! You will be amazed at how quickly your baby will pull through the surgery and come back to breast:) where abouts are you located?
Cheers Amanda