Salivary Gland Obstruction in the Young CF Child

One of the possible effects of cystic fibrosis is salivary gland obstruction. We noticed that our first CF infant would not eat dry solid food. He would put it in his mouth, to be sure, but then it would come out. And it came out about as dry as it went in! This was very troubling to us, as it meant that he was not getting enough food to sustain his caloric needs. We discovered that he was suffering from obstruction of his salivary glands. From then on, when we gave him solid food, we made sure that it was moistened. He became a great fan of all types of gravies and sauces. With sufficient moisture content in the food, he was able to eat solid food and gain weight. If your very young CF child has a problem eating solid food, try moistening it. This is something you may not hear from your CF doctors, because they do not consider it a major symptom of CF--but it becomes a major symptom when it prevents the child from enjoying food, which is a barrier to weight gain.