Micah has had an NG tube to feed most his feedings for his first 3 months. He manages to get 1/8 of his feedings down orally (rest via NG). Our GI has recommended inserting a G-tube at this point. Any thoughts from the community on leaving the NG tube in or to get the G-tube. I've heard mixed results on whether the G-tube benefits oral feeding (I know it may reduce reflux by having ng-tube out - but Micah doesn't seem to feed orally better when we remove the NG temporarily). Thanks for any ideas and feedback!

Micah - reflux, TEF, dextrocardia, paralyzed vocal cord, anal stenosis

I have no experience with tube feeding, but just wanted to say I hope you get some answers soon, and everything works out:)

You may want to post this in the tube feeding forum, you may get more answers there??

My son had an ng tube placed for three months and then we switched to a gtube or button. The reason we switched is that we knew that it would be long term and our doc felt that he would do better with the button.

Now from my stand point the button was much easier to deal with and take care of than the ng tube. Our doc will place the button if it is going to be long term use and that is 6months or longer. I also know that the button can cause the reflux to worsen also at the ng tube can. Finally the gbutton did help my son eat more than when he had the ng in because it didnt bother him like the ng did. I do wish you luck and hope that things go well for you.

Melanie

I'm not familiar at all w/this procedure but I'm going to move this post to the "feeding issues" forum under "Tube feeding" where I believe you'll get more help w/this.

My thoughts are that the G-tube is safer for long term use then the NG, however I know there are couple of kiddos on here who had NGs for long stretches of time with no problems. That was Daniel & ??? I can't remember the other one. Any how we always had g-tubes, the only time Noah had a NG was for drainage after his surgeries. The g-tubes are really easy to care for.

My son was NG tube fed for a few months prior to his heart surgery and he vomited quite a bit more when it was in. I have no experience with the G tube, but we were told if Asher was going to need tube feeding for a longer period of time he would need a G tube.

Tucker had an NG (and then NJ) tube prior to having g-tube/fundo surgery. The g-tube is much easier and he looks so much cuter without the NG tube on his face. :) It's my understanding tha if used for long-term the NG tube can cause children to lose their gag reflex, which can create new problems. Tucker has never been a great eater, but he has definetely gone downhill since having a tube--either NG or G--not much of a difference for him either way.

Good luck.

I was told that NG should be for short term use. We knew that Sam would need to be tube fed for a long period so we went with the g-tube and it was done with his fundo. We did NG feeds for about 2 weeks and I hated it--he kept pulling it out and it was very irritating to him. The G-tube is much easier and he is more mobile with it. If tube feeding will be a long term thing, I would say go with the g-tube. Good Luck.

My son Max had an NG right at birth as he showed no interest or skill in feeding. We stuck with the NG for several months and finally had a G tube placed when Max was 5 and half months old. If I had to do it over again I would have had the G tube put in sooner. (We were in a bit of denial and kept thinking Max would start eating so we held off for a long time.) Max is different from your child though - he wasn't able to orally feed any volume at all.

The rule of thumb I've heard is if you need the NG for longer than 2 months than a G tube is probably a better option.

For Max having the NG was absolutely awful. When his reflux got bad he was vomitting it up as many as three times a day and I absolutely HATED having to place it (we were doing it ourselves at home).

The G tube is much easier to manage. A lot of things about the NG can make babies more orally averse (tape on face, replacing the tube, irritation in the nose and throat).

Good luck with you and your baby.

Vicky

Hi

Jaxon had a NG tube for about 1.5 mths and we didn't like it at all... It was always comming out and he pulled at it all the time.. The tape really hurt his face also, b/c it kept peeling off and we had to replace it 2-3 X per day.. Big rash from it... For us the G-tube was the route to go.. But its more for long term. How long will your son be tube feed for?

The G tube is so much easier to manage and you don't have to worry about always checkig for placement etc...

The G tube is hiden too, so less change of it being pulled out...

Good Luck

Katy is right, we did use an NG tube for awhile (longer than we should have), and sometimes it seemed successful, but in the end Daniel got a G tube.

Our problems with the NG included retaping because it made his nose ran (so that didn't help with his oral defensiveness), even more gagging because the tube tickled his throat, and throwing it up. I've also been told that extended NG tube use can cause a sort of dead spot at the back of the child's mouth because they get so used to something back there that they tune it out, and that can create problems with oral feeding. This happened to Daniel. He'd sort of lose track of food way back in his mouth.

Now the G tube has worked beautifully for us. It finally allowed us to relax and let D take eating at his own pace. We are lucky that the G tube did not make his reflux worse. Some surgeons will not do a G tube without doing a fundo as well.