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Maternal (Expert Forum)
Failure to thrive for tube-fed toddler
Patient medical question and answer from The Maternal and Child Health Forum. Health topic area and articles about newborn care
Failure to thrive for tube-fed toddler
by Mrs-Cheryl, Oct 28, 1998 12:00AM
I just want to know what is the best way to mix up foods to feed a tube-fed toddler. Should I mix the food with water and give the milk seperate? or should I mix the foods with the milk?
Also, what can you do to thin out nasal secretions so that swallowing will be easier? My toddler seems to have more secretions at night and coughs it up and blows it out his nose.
My son was born with a prolapsed cord and his blood and oxygen was cut off but the amount of time is not know. The doctor's said he would never hear, see, walk, talk, respond or smile at us, but would just stare in the space.
They were afraid he would grow and we would have to carry him everywhere we went. I am proud to say that he can respond to us, he smiles and laughs out loud sometimes. He can hear and see wonderfully with a slight sometimes unnoticed delay.
The only thing he is not doing, is growing to his age. He is 2yrs old and 13lb 1oz as of September. I mix up regular foods with his milk, such as oatmeal with the fruit, wheat germ, meat, turkey, and chicken sticks, bread, mixed vegetables from the can, and my mother's down home cooking on Sunday afternoons.
How can I blend the foods without losing the nutrients and still get the food to go down the tube without getting stuck? What suggestions do you have for getting him to learn to swallow and eat by mouth? I always try to put whatever it is that I am feeding him into his mouth to give him a taste. The other day he
actually tried to bite down on my finger between his teeth. This was a very good sign. We were having to suction him out continously, but at six months old, he started to handle his secretions to where we don't have to suction him anymore.
We do believe he has sinuses, seeing that I had sinuses the whole time I carried him. He is a very strong baby disspite the fact the he is not gaining weight like he is supposed to be gaining.
How can we teach him to sit on his own? He wants to crawl so bad, but is not strong enough to hold himself up. How can we help him out? He will take steps across the floor if you hold him under his arms or around his waist, and his head and neck control is getting much better.
I just wanted to tell others parents who are going through the same thing to keep you head up high and love, hug, and sing to your special child (God's angel)all the time. God is the only one who knows what my sons out come in life will be, and I have seen a living miracle in him for the last 2yrs.
I believe if we could control the secretions, he will want to swallow and take food by mouth. Do you have any swallowing exercises we can use, if so, please let us know.
Thank you for letting us talk to you, and May God Bless you all!!!!!
Also, what can you do to thin out nasal secretions so that swallowing will be easier? My toddler seems to have more secretions at night and coughs it up and blows it out his nose.
My son was born with a prolapsed cord and his blood and oxygen was cut off but the amount of time is not know. The doctor's said he would never hear, see, walk, talk, respond or smile at us, but would just stare in the space.
They were afraid he would grow and we would have to carry him everywhere we went. I am proud to say that he can respond to us, he smiles and laughs out loud sometimes. He can hear and see wonderfully with a slight sometimes unnoticed delay.
The only thing he is not doing, is growing to his age. He is 2yrs old and 13lb 1oz as of September. I mix up regular foods with his milk, such as oatmeal with the fruit, wheat germ, meat, turkey, and chicken sticks, bread, mixed vegetables from the can, and my mother's down home cooking on Sunday afternoons.
How can I blend the foods without losing the nutrients and still get the food to go down the tube without getting stuck? What suggestions do you have for getting him to learn to swallow and eat by mouth? I always try to put whatever it is that I am feeding him into his mouth to give him a taste. The other day he
actually tried to bite down on my finger between his teeth. This was a very good sign. We were having to suction him out continously, but at six months old, he started to handle his secretions to where we don't have to suction him anymore.
We do believe he has sinuses, seeing that I had sinuses the whole time I carried him. He is a very strong baby disspite the fact the he is not gaining weight like he is supposed to be gaining.
How can we teach him to sit on his own? He wants to crawl so bad, but is not strong enough to hold himself up. How can we help him out? He will take steps across the floor if you hold him under his arms or around his waist, and his head and neck control is getting much better.
I just wanted to tell others parents who are going through the same thing to keep you head up high and love, hug, and sing to your special child (God's angel)all the time. God is the only one who knows what my sons out come in life will be, and I have seen a living miracle in him for the last 2yrs.
I believe if we could control the secretions, he will want to swallow and take food by mouth. Do you have any swallowing exercises we can use, if so, please let us know.
Thank you for letting us talk to you, and May God Bless you all!!!!!
Doctor's Answer
by HFHS.RN-AM, Oct 28, 1998 12:00AM
Dear Cheryl,
I don't know of any gastrointestinal tubes that you should be putting food down. Most tubes bypass the stomach so that food does not reflux or back up the throat and go down into the lungs. The stomach is the place where food is broken down to prepare it for absorbtion and the intestines, where most tubes go, only absorb the nutrients. If you are putting pureed food into the intestines it will go right through with little of no absorbtion of calories or nutrients and the body will not grow and thrive. These tubes need special formulas that the body can utilize all the nutrition from. Please make an appointment to see your child's pediatrician as soon as possible. It sounds as though your child is suffering from failure to thrive and the doctor needs to distinguish if it is because of something metabolic or if its because he is starving from lack of nutrients.
Your child should be followed by a multidisciplinary team of specialists, and I would recommend calling your state department of community health office for children with special needs of a major medical center in your area thast has a developmental assessment clinic.
HFHS.RN-AM
*KEYWORD: Failure to thrive
