Preemies
jerseycaptive
member
G-tube?
jerseycaptive
member
in Preemies
Anyone who has children with a g-tube or used to have a g-tube for digestion? Doctors at our Children's Hospital wants to perform surgery on our DS and I am unsure about making this decision. How did you make your decision to have your child have a g-tube? Is it easy to maintain? Any problems or issues I should be aware of? Any alternatives?
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Re: G-tube?
Our daughter had a gtube - she has had it since June of last year. She has chronic lung disease and was unable to finish bottles due to her respiratory status. That is why we choose to have the gtube put in.
If you're looking at possible long term tube feeding requirements than I would recommend the gtube. It is placed directly in the stomach so you don't have to worry about it getting pulled out easily. Occasionally it does get pulled out and you have to replace the mickey button but it is quite easy to do.
So far we have found the gtube very easy to maintain and use. Once you get the hang of it, feeding is very easy.
Why are they recommending one for your son? The reason for getting it put in can affect possible alternatives.
One thing to consider - babies who are fed by tube long term can have oral aversion to eating via mouth. Our daughter is now 22 months and doesn't take anything by mouth because she has been fed by tube for such a long time. She did have some other issues that affected her oral aversion but it is something to consider.
I hope that helps - let me know if you have any questions.
Good luck!
Robbie had one for 6 weeks.
He had JUST started learning to eat by mouth when he had to have surgery for other reasons (hiatal hernia) and they wanted to put one in in case he needed it.
I was pretty against it, convinced he didn't need it, but was talked into it. Taking it out is very easy, and if he did need one later, it would mean a 2nd surgery.
As it turned out, I was correct and he didn't need it. It was taken out once it had healed enough to do so.
As for maintenance- we had a terrible time with it. Keep in mind that Robbie was only 4lb when they put his in. They put a smaller size one in and even that was a little too big. It leaked pretty much all the time and had to be adjusted a lot. I hated the thing. But it was more a pain-in-the-butt thing than anything. I kept gauze around it and he'd still end up with wet clothes from it leaking.
I'd probably have hated it less if he'd actually NEEDED the thing, but it honestly never got used past the week it was put in. So I had the annoyance for no reason.
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Carter has had one for about 3 months and I too did not want him to have it. I felt like I failed as a parent. But after seeing him, on the feeding tube now I wish they suggested earier. He is thriving so much since the placement, he is just getting on the charts now. He is 13months old and weighs 15.14lbs. I've notice that he does not want to eat anything but the bottle, we will be saying something to GI next week.