Children with Moebius syndrome often need expert advice on speech, swallowing, and feeding. The absence or underdevelopment of cranial nerve 7 can affect feeding and oral motor movement. Hypotonia (muscle weakness), which is associated with Moebius syndrome, may also contribute to speech, feeding, and oral motor movement difficulties. Feeding tubes may be needed for some individuals.
Pediatric occupational therapists and speech language pathologists (SLPs) are trained to work with children and maximize a child’s abilities to communicate and eat.
An SLP is more narrowly focused on swallowing, feeding, and communication than an occupational therapist, who looks at a child from head to toe. An occupational therapist will examine and monitor a child’s fine motor skills, sensory motor skills, and visual motor skills. SLPs and occupational therapists often work together to create a treatment program for a patient.
The Moebius Syndrome Foundation and its board of directors does not diagnose Moebius syndrome in individuals nor do we endorse particular medical professionals, treatments, products, or services.
Children with Moebius syndrome may receive several types of feeding tube placements over the course of their lives. A NG tube (shown, left) is commonly used in NICU settings and may be placed early in a child’s life. Your child’s pediatric neonatal team and pediatric gastroenterologist can advise on the necessity of G and J tubes.
Learn MoreRenee Roy Hill, M.S., CCC-SLP, COM®️
Renee Roy Hill is a member of the Moebius Syndrome Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Board. She is the owner of Crossroads Therapy Clinic in New Braunfels, TX, and a member of the TalkTools® speakers bureau.
Dr. Brown’s
The Dr. Brown’s Medical product line of infant feeding solutions offers innovative products to support babies with specific feeding needs. The Dr. Brown’s Specialty Feeding System was created in partnership with medical experts – speech language pathologists, occupational and physical therapists, clinical nurse specialists, neonatologists, and lactation consultants to offer products with a significant medical advantage.
As one of the line’s premier offerings, the Specialty Feeding System is a unique bottle/nipple/valve system designed specifically to assist in the management and treatment of complicated oral feeding issues. This bottle system will be beneficial for infants and bottle-fed children identified with severe to profound difficulty in efficiently expressing a fluid bolus during sucking. Infants with conditions including cleft lip/palate, ankyloglossia, high-arched palate, oro-neuromotor dysfunctions, congenital heart disease, common or rare syndromic sequences, and/or craniofacial anomalies will demonstrate strong outcomes while using the Dr. Brown’s Specialty Feeding System.
To learn more about this unique system, please visit www.drbrownsbaby.com/valve. For more information on all products from Dr. Brown’s Medical, please email: medical@handi-craft.com.
Medela Special Needs Feeder
Medela offers several types of bottles for babies with feeding problems, including neurological challenges or facial/oral differences. One is their Special Needs Feeder (formerly called the Haberman Feeder), which allows a variable flow rate and has a one-way valve.
Pigeon Cleft Palate Bottle Line
Pigeon bottles, from Havenhall Ply Ltd. in Australia, offer a cleft palate bottle line.
Presented by Emily Calhoon, a mom of a child with Moebius syndrome.