Craniofacial Feeding Management

What is craniofacial feeding management?

The Craniofacial Feeding Management team solves feeding problems in children with craniofacial conditions that affect how the jaws and mouth work.

Most feeding problems relate to cleft lip and palate. We also help patients with small jaws, airway problems and other conditions that affect feeding.

Managing feeding problems early in your child’s life helps them gain weight and thrive. We’re here to help from the time your baby is born through childhood and young adulthood, providing support as your child’s needs change.

Why choose Seattle Children’s for help managing feeding?

For more than 35 years, our team has identified, evaluated and managed a broad range of feeding problems in children with craniofacial conditions.

We are part of the Craniofacial Center, which has experts in every field your child needs. More than 50 specialists work together as a team to diagnose and care for our patients.

Services We Provide

Our multidisciplinary team works with families to manage a wide range of feeding challenges from simple to complex — including bottle feeding, drinking from a cup, eating solid foods and tube feeding, such as using a gastrostomy tube (G tube).

Your child’s craniofacial pediatrician and nurse will evaluate your baby for problems with feeding or weight gain.

They will recommend a feeding plan with follow-up steps. If needed, the doctor will consult others on our Craniofacial Feeding Management team, like a dietitian or speech and language pathologist.

Our services include teaching parents new ways to feed their baby and using video X-rays to understand what happens when your child is feeding.

Feeding instruction

Often, families can improve feeding simply by getting more information. We can help you learn about special bottles and show you other ways to feed your baby.

See tips on feeding babies with cleft lip and palate.

Feeding evaluation

Some babies benefit from a clinical feeding evaluation. Our dedicated infant feeding specialist (speech and language pathologist) watches your baby feed and suggests ways to improve feeding. Changes might include holding your baby upright or supporting their cheek or jaw while feeding. The infant feeding specialist may also listen with a stethoscope. This helps us understand how your baby swallows and how their swallowing coordinates with breathing.

Swallow study

Some children may need a swallow study using an X-ray movie. This is called a videofluoroscopic swallow study (PDF) (Dari) (Russian) (Spanish) (Tigrinya) (Ukrainian). A speech and language pathologist does the study and interprets the results. This study helps us understand how your child is swallowing if a baby is getting milk in their lungs (aspirating) and what might be causing problems.

Scheduling an Appointment With the Craniofacial Center

• Contact the Craniofacial Center at 206-987-2208 for an appointment, a second opinion or more information.
• How to schedule an appointment at Seattle Children’s.
• If you already have an appointment, learn more about how to prepare.
• Learn about Craniofacial Center resources such as useful links, videos and recommended reading for you and your family.

Who is on the Feeding Management team?

Our Craniofacial Feeding Management team includes craniofacial pediatricians, nurses, speech and language pathologists who specialize in infant feeding and dietitians. Infant feeding specialists may also include an  occupational therapist or a physical therapist.

Read more about the Craniofacial Center’s team approach.

Contact Us

If your child needs help with feeding or gaining weight, call your craniofacial pediatrician at the Craniofacial Center at 206-987-2208. Your doctor will coordinate care from the Feeding Management team.

To make an appointment, you can call us directly at 206-987-2208.

If you live outside of Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho, please contact our coordinator for out-of-area patients at 206-987-0814.

Providers, see how to refer a patient.