Feeding interactions of infants with unrepaired cleft lip and/or palate

Abstract

Previous research on feeding infants with craniofacial anomalies, for example, cleft lip and palate or cleft palate only, has focused almost exclusively on feeding techniques. Little is known about the quality of the mother-infant interaction during such feedings and whether these interactions differ from those of dyads with nonimpaired infants. Three groups of bottle-fed 3- month-old infants (15 with unrepaired cleft lip and palate, 19 with unrepaired cleft palate only, and 17 nonimpaired) were assessed with the Nursing Child Assessment of Feeding Scale (NCAFS). Mothers in the cleft lip and palate group received significantly lower sensitivity scores than mother in the cleft palate only and nonimpaired groups. On scales measuring other dimensions of material feeding behavior (e.g., social-emotional growth fostering), the groups did not differ. Infants in both cleft groups were rated lower than the nonimpaired infants on a scale pertaining to the clarity of their feeding cues. Infants in both cleft groups were also less likely than nonimpaired infants to smile or laugh during feedings. Regression analyses indicated that family socioeconomic status, infant temperament, and social support contributed significant proportions of variance in maternal, but not infant, feeding scores.