Does anybody know if a feeding tube actually expands the stomach? My PED says that my four month old's tummy will expand to the point where he knows that he will needs to drink at least 5 ounces. Other people have told me that if the pump on the feeding tube goes too fast this could actual cause my babies tummy to shrink. My son has been on a NG feeding tube for about 6 weeks now and we are trying to get him to feed normal again. He was in the hospital for about 3 weeks and the medication that he is on for his illness have cause his eating habits to change. Before he went to the hospital he was eating 2.5 to 3.5 ounces every two hours. Now he SHOULD be taking 4 to 5 ounces every 3 hours according to his PED and he is on 24 calorie formula. He has gotten to the point where he will only take about 1.5 to 2 ounces by mouth and then we have to put the rest through the feeding tube. He was throwing up alot when we first put him on the NG tube so our PED suggested we slow down the drip. She said that over time he will realize that he needs that 5 ounces every feed and will take it all through his bottle. My fear is that he is getting lazy because he knows he will get his food everytime no matter what. Also I am afraid with the drip being so slow (about 150ML/hour) that his tummy isn't expanding & he won't know that he needs to take more by mouth. Does anybody know what we can to do to expand his tummy or if it is possible. Also does anybody have any good advice on weaning from a feeding tube? The PED is going to give our son another month with the NG tube in before she makes a decision to put a G tube in. I really don't want my baby to have to have surgery, so any advice would really help! My son has vitamin D restistant rickets, so he is on high levels of Vitamin D (calcitriol) and Calcium (calcium carbonate).
Our son had an NG tube also, but we were still in the NICU. The feeding therapist there was wonderful, and we still needed feeding therapy after he came home. I would get some recommendations for a feeding therapist and start there. We called ours the "Baby Whisperer!" Best of luck!
My son was on NG with 24 drip for 6 months. you DO NOT have to do a G if you don't want to. If they want to go that route get another opinion. They wanted to do it for my ds but I fought it and got him off the tube and now he eats/drinks perfectly normal!
The NG is sometimes necessary but IMHO it does cause feeding issues. They know that they don't have to suck to be satisfied. Also, what we did with my ds was to take him off the tube for a few hours. There are a few reasons he may not be taking as much, for one it doesn't feel great to swallow with that tube in their throat, two, he is getting a constant drip of formula right? he is probably never hungry. This is what we ran into with ds. Take him off for a couple hours and he could again FEEL hunger and learn how to satisfy it.
Don't always stress over the # of ounces he is getting as long as his weight is gaining. And look at how much they want him to drink by mouth in addition to what he is getting on the drip through the NG....It's most likely more than what a non-NG baby his age would take.
Take a deep breath and relax so you can be calm to fight for your son. When babies have some health issues they can be a little behind the "normal" curve and that is ok.....my ds is now 2 and right on target with everything and I can't tell you how many times they wanted a G tube or hospital for possible FTT etc. Be his advocate, you know him better than the doctor does.
Take care!
my son was on an ng tube for a while because he was too weak to suck. he was not a preemie, but only weighed 4lbs. They would take it out every so often and have him suck on a pacifier to strengthen those muscles. They would also take it out if they were going to try to feed him with bottle. His was not a constant drip though and he only had food going through it when it was feeding time. They told me that if it was a constant drip, he would never learn when he was hungry and full and would end up not eating enough in the end and have to be on a tube for a lot longer than necessary. His drip was not regulated, we just filled up the bottle hooked up to it and let it go on it's own.
Hi T., I my middle son was a 25 week preemie. He had an NG tube til about a week before he went home. He had breast milk supplemented with Alimentum, was drinking poorly out of a bottle and barely latching on at all to nurse.
Only thing I can suggest (besides to not fret so much about numbers, if he's gaining and thriving, what difference does it make exactly how much he's taking) as was recommended by our lactation specialist, is to have him suck a pacifier to strengthen his muscles and to associate the act of sucking with a full tummy. She also suggested using different shaped binkies. We did, it seemed to help. And after awhile he did latch on, and did empty bottles. But it WAS stressful not knowing day to day whether he was really getting 'enough'.
Good luck, hope your little guy is feelin' better soon!!
:)
