Who has a feeding tube?
You would be surprised how many families have experienced feeding tubes.
In our family, we’ve experienced three different types between three of the kidlets, for different reasons.
LB was born prematurely and did not have the suck, swallow, breathe reflex that full term newborns have. This means it was not safe for her to eat by mouth, as she could choke. When she did get that reflex, it still took a lot of energy to eat, and she needed to conserve those calories! She had an NG tube for roughly a week.
LK had the same challenges as LB, with the addition of needing breathing support. Whe was on bipap to help her breathe, and that covered her nose, so she started off with an OG tube to eat. She had that for about a week before graduating to an NG tube for roughly 5 days.
LU loved to eat. She was great at it! She just couldn’t eat a lot at one time (known as volume sensitive). We had to mix formula to increase the calorie amount, and then feed through the tube over a long period of time. She started with an NG tube, but she didn’t like it and kept pulling it out. We didn’t know how long she would need it and decided that the g tube was her best option. She’s had it for almost 5 years now.