Feeding behaviour of infants with cleft lip and palate.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether the feeding behaviour of infants with cleft lip and palate is improved with a type-P teat, which is widely used in Japan by such infants, compared with a standard teat. The difference in intra-oral movements between the type-P teat, modified for the evaluation of feeding behaviour, and an unmodified type-P teat was also compared using ultrasonography.


METHODS
In part 1 of the study, 15 infants aged 2 to 3 mo and 7 infants aged 2 wk were evaluated for sucking pressure, expression pressure, frequency and duration of sucking. All the infants had a complete unilateral cleft lip and palate without any other abnormalities. In part 2, an ultrasonographic analysis of intra-oral movement was done for 5 infants enrolled in part 1 of the study.


RESULTS
Sucking pressure did not occur in all infants. It was found that feeding efficiency improved with the type-P teat compared with the standard teat. The expression pressure with the type-P teat was significantly higher than that with the standard teat, and the feeding frequency with the type-P teat was lower than that with the standard teat.


CONCLUSIONS
A type-P teat is suitable for infants with cleft lip and palate who have sucking difficulties. However, a type-P nipple with a squeezable bottle does not fully solve the feeding problems of infants with cleft lip and palate. New artificial teats that allow a higher expression pressure are desirable, and the measurement of the expression pressure may be helpful in the evaluation of artificial nipples.
Mizuno
K
K
Chiba Children's Hospital, Division of Neonatology, Chiba, Chiba City, Japan. katsuorobi@aol.com
Ueda
A
A
Kani
K
K
Kawamura
H
H
D002971:Cleft Lip / Q000523:psychology*; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000523:psychology*; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007223:Infant; D015370:Infant Equipment; D011312:Pressure; D013391:Sucking Behavior