Little Miss has been fed for 9 years by g-tube. The medical community of doctors and nurses really did not give good instruction at that time. Here are some things I’ve discovered along the way:
- Clean and rinse tubes and syringes immediately after feeding is completed. Keeping tubes and syringes wet hastens their deterioration.
- Store clean tubes and syringes on a clean cloth in a cabinet. Light hastens deterioration of the plastic used to make the tubes and syringes.
- When blended meals are refrigerated, they generally thicken. This is especially true of the protein-based formula. Thick formula is very difficult to push through the tubing into the tummy.
- I warm food in the microwave until consistency is free flowing. Stir well to eliminate hot spots. Feeding will be easy now!
- When making blended meals, consider adding highly nutritious foods and herbs. I add fresh oregano as it is thought to be a natural antibiotic. I add parsley for its digestive benefits. I add dill because I like the way it smells in the food when I am feeding her! The nutritional value of mushrooms is much higher than previously thought and I routinely add them to her food.
- Also consider blending the food the rest of the family is eating and feeding that to your g-tube babe. Cheese doesn’t do well and neither do highly starched foods, in my experience.
- Questions? leave a comment. I’d be happy to help in any way I can!
Posted by connie on August 8, 2009 at 1:09 pm
I can’t read this post, for some reason. Help!