My baby has a high palate

[worriedparent12]

Hi everyone,

I saw a health professional today because my 8 week old baby is very gassy and screams a lot and has reflux issues (she puts on weight though and is on the 50th percentile). I was told that my daughter has a mild posterior tongue tie and a high palate.

The feeding consultant said that her issues were most likely caused by her high palate and not by the tongue tie.

I had the tongue tie snipped anyway just to cover all bases.

I have now googled "high palate" and I am worried sick with what I have found.

It is a condition of so many syndromes and I am now seriously worried that my daughter is handicapped.

Has anyone's baby had a high palate and everything turned out to be okay?

Also, did the high palate resolve itself or did you have to see a specialist?

From what I read it can cause serious feeding and speech issues later on.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated xx

What health professional was it? A paediatrician?

Hi OP.
im sorry you are scared. I had a high palette all my life: until I was an adult and had orthodontic work.
It caused me no difficulties.
My DD on the other hand also has a high palette- but she is very profoundly disabled and was expected to die at birth.
So, while a high palette can obviously be associated with various disabilities and conditions it is not necessarily so.
My advice would be a) stop internet researching (!!) and b) speak to a professional- GP, health visitor or paediatrician.
ps unless you are in the USA we speak about disabilities rather than handicapped people.
But that’s not the important issue. If you have worries only a health professional can properly advise you.
Best of luck

My dh and dd have one of the syndromes (Marfan Syndrome) that are associated with a high palate - as have many of our friends that we've made through support groups.

Please don't upset yourself by Googling, as a high palate by itself doesn't mean that there is anything seriously wrong. Also, the vast majority of people who live with conditions such as Marfans will not have the more interesting issues that pop up on Google.

Both of my DC and I all have high palates. I didn’t realise this wasn’t the norm until my youngest was diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos syndrome. Genetics subsequently diagnosed us all but apart from having hypermobile joints and both DC being very tall and slim (sadly my EDS doesn’t make me tall and slim) we are all fine. On its own it means nothing at all.

I have a high palette and have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome type III. Tbh the hardest thing for me was being told I was lazy all the time because of the associated fatigue and I am prone to injuries but that was because nobody knew I had it.

I have a young family, good job and a nice house so it hasn't stopped me. Type III is the least dangerous type. I think my daughter has it too because I'm seeing things in her that remind me of me but I read that you can only pass on the type you have so she (if this is true) won't have any of the dangerous types. My sister and one of my cousins probably have it too but it's never been an issue so they haven't bothered getting diagnosed.

Keep an eye on your baby and push for referral early if you're worried. Don't encourage gymnastics or yoga but dance and swimming are good at strengthening the joints. Also, google is all about worst case scenario and there are a lot of people on YouTube who make their living talking about their EDS/Marfans/chronic illness so take everything with a pinch of salt.

Please try not to panic although I know that's really hard

Oh and no speech or feeding issues related to high palette for anyone I know!

I am 69 and have had a high palate all my life. I do not have any health conditions such as EDS or Marfans. My only problem is my teeth from the canines back are deeply inbedded in my jaw and do not come out easily. I asked my dentist if I have a high palate and he said yes. It has never been mentioned by any health professional. I had elocution lessons when young to eradicate an accent and I found I cannot roll my r's. I wonder if the high palate is why? I hope your DC will be the same as me OP and is perfectly fine. Humans are not perfect and we all have odd little things which are a bit different. I definitely do not have any hypermobility.

I am sorry to hear you are worried. I have a brother with a high palette. He needed a lot of orthodontic work when he was a teenager but other than that he is fine. While high palette's are associated with some syndromes this is but one symptom and this cannot be used to diagnose. Please stop googling to self diagnose, you will drive yourself insane by reading about very rare conditions and worst case scenarios which are of absolutley no relevance to you unless or until your own doctor properly diagnises your child.

Speak to your health visitor or GP.

PS.
Please do not use the word 'handicapped.' People with disabilities have nothing to do with a game of golf and while America may use the term still because of the weak penetration of disability equality movements on mainstream society and language, it is highly offensive to a great many people amongst the disabled community in UK, Ireland and wider Europe.

My youngest daughter was born with a very high, arched palate and a tongue tie. The tongue tie caused her no issues breast feeding at all nor did the palate. She did have some ENT issues which resolved (grommets, glue ear and huge tonsils which she had removed) but has grown into an amazing young woman who has no issues at all. She also has a pre auricular bobble next to her ear which the ENT told us in some cases can be an indicator of particular syndromes with the high palate but that she did not have any other markers. He explained that some people just have slight differences which do not really affect them at all. The only issue my daughter has with her palate as an adult is that food sometimes gets stuck up there, just a mild annoyance really. She did have braces but so did all of my children and now has beautiful teeth.

I have a high palate. I’m in my 50s and recently diagnosed with hyper mobility - turned down a referral for EDS but GP suspects it. I haven’t been disadvantaged by my palate, but I have had a lot of orthodontic work - not as a result of having a high palate, although the orthodontists and surgeons all commented on my high palate.

Thanks everyone for your input.

I am sorry I used the word "handicapped" - English isn't my first language, so I make mistakes like that sometimes.

I actually realised that I shouldn't have used the word a few seconds after I hit the "send" button, but then it was already too late and I couldn't edit my post anymore.

Hi All!
Need some positive stories and reassurance.
My 5 month old has a high palate, laryngo malacia but no stridor, tongue tie has been snipped and severe feeding issues. He gags as soon as bottle is on his lips and then only feeds an oz or 2 max.
He has an NG tube for past month as that was the only way he can get any milk. He also has CMPA and is on alfamino. He has slow weight gain and never sleeps in the day. My question is did anyone else's baby gain weight and outgrow the above conditions-and at what age? I have to tube feed baby every 3 hours and he is still gaining weight slowly. Is there light at the end of the tunnel?

@Diversion how did they remove the tonsils? Is it an operation? How did you know they had a high palette?
I have a baby who snores sometimes, tongue tie was removed when a few weeks old. I’ve gone down a Google rabbit hole

Very similar here. I've got a high palate and a submucosal cleft - both of which were only discovered last year, when I was 68! Given the number of times various practitioners stare into children's mouths, it's astonishing nobody noticed.

I had no problems breastfeeding as a baby.

I can't roll my 'r's, either - I speak three rhotic languages, so it's annoying! I wonder if that is the reason? The cleft is giving me some swallowing trouble now I'm old, as it seems I've been making extra effort to swallow and the muscle's getting weaker.

Anyway, OP, don't catastrophise! Even if the palate is associated with other glitches, these may not give DD any trouble. Humans are not perfect and we all have odd little things which are a bit different - Very true!

.

DD had a high pallette as a baby and I thought that was just a normal anatomical variation, no idea it was linked with disability! I had to feed her with nipple shields but she's now 5 and healthy x