Your child had surgery to repair the cleft lip. The surgeon closed the opening between the upper lip and the nose. The surgical site is still healing. After your child is discharged from the hospital, there are things you can do to protect the surgical area as it heals.

What to Expect After Surgery

• The surgeon put surgical glue over the stitches. The area looks like a scab. Try to keep this area dry. The glue should fall off on its own in about 2 weeks.
• Your baby's lip will have a little redness and swelling around the surgical site for about 2 weeks.
• If you look inside your baby's nose, you might see tiny blood clots. Do not try to remove them for 2 weeks, because this can disturb the stitches.
• As your baby's lip heals, the stitches will dissolve. 
• Do not apply any antibiotic ointment or other creams to the surgical site.
• When the surgical site heals, there will be a small scar on the lip under the nose. The scar will get better with time.
• About 3 or 4 weeks after surgery, your surgeon may recommend daily massage of the lip with vitamin E oil. This helps to soften and flatten the scar. 

Pain

• Some pain or discomfort is normal after cleft lip repair.
• Give the prescribed pain medicine as directed by the surgeon. 

Preventing injury around the surgical site

• The health care team gave you arm splints (called "no-nos"). Use these for 3 weeks to prevent your baby from getting a finger or any hard object near the surgical site. Putting the arm splints on over long sleeves instead of on the skin may help your baby feel more comfortable.
• For the first few weeks after surgery, protect the surgical site as it heals:
  • Avoid hard toys, pacifiers, or hard objects that your baby may put in the mouth.
  • Be careful when holding your baby against your shoulder.

Feeding

• Your baby should be able to eat the same as before the surgery. 
• Because the lip is sore, your baby might be fussy at feeding time. 
• If your baby is not eating enough, try giving the prescribed pain medicine about an hour before feeding time.
• After each feeding, give your baby 1/2 ounce of water to rinse the mouth.

Your child:

• has increased redness, swelling, or fluid leaking around the stitches
• has yellow or white bumps around the surgical site
• seems to have more pain that doesn't get better with pain medicine
• is vomiting and can't keep liquids down
• starts bleeding from the wound
• has a fever of 100.5°F (38.1°C) or higher

Your child:

• has trouble drinking liquids
• appears dehydrated; signs include dizziness, drowsiness, dry or sticky mouth, sunken eyes, crying with few or no tears, or has a dry diaper for 8 hours (or longer)

Will my child have a scar from the surgery? Yes, when the surgery site heals, there will be a small scar on the lip under the nose. The scar will get better with time. 

Will my child still need to see the cleft team after surgery? Some kids with cleft lip have dental, speech, and/or hearing problems when they get older. Your child's cleft team has many different specialists to help with these issues. It is important to see the cleft team at least once a year, even if your child is doing well.