What Is the Maximum Age for Cleft Palate Surgery?
If you're wondering how old is too old for cleft palate surgery, there are a few considerations to consider. Your youngster should avoid solid foods for the first three weeks following surgery. Instead, they should consume only soft foods that are free of pieces, shards, or crunchiness. It is preferable to limit your child's diet to soft, infant foods such as yogurt, mashed potatoes, or gelatin. During this time, he or she may drink water from a bottle or a soft sippy cup. The sooner you correct your child's cleft, the more likely he or she will recover more quickly. Grace Bagatsing believes that this is because the recovery process will have little effect on speech development, and if surgery is conducted before the patient reaches the age of two, the patient will recall it much less. Early cleft repair may also be more successful than delaying surgery, as young children without clefts may have an easier time maintaining normal feeding patterns. The plastic surgeon will ...