The aim of this paper is to investigate speech breathing patterns in young speakers with a cleft palate and to examine compensatory strategies deployed at the thoracic and abdominal levels in order to compensate for supraglottal deficits. To do so, 17 control speakers and 12 children with cleft palates were recorded. The variation of respiratory movements was measured using electromagnetic thoracic and abdominal belts. The respiratory signals were synchronized with acoustic data. Results show that compensatory strategies are mainly deployed during expiration. The compression of the rib cage is higher for children with cleft palate than control speakers. Furthermore, this strategy is amplified when velopharyngeal functionality is more severely affected. However, for inhalation, no discernible difference was detected between control subjects and children with cleft palate. Finally, statistical analyses revealed that compensatory strategies do not have a significant effect on the temporal organisation of speech in children with cleft palate.