Tube Feeding Tips

The information provided on this site is designed to support, not replace, the relationship between a consumer and his or her physician. All issues, ideas, suggestions etc. should be discussed with your health care provider prior to actual use.  Medical information is reviewed by clinicians in a relevant field, but does not imply endorsement by the Oley Foundation. If you have questions or suggestions please contact Oley's LifelineLetter Editor, Lisa Metzger, at metzgel@mail.amc.edu.

In addition to the tips and products mentioned below, tube feeders may find it helpful to review common complications of tube feeding discussed on the HEN Complication Chart, review the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition’s (A.S.P.E.N.) tube feeding guidelines and /or to borrow a video/DVD from Oley's library.

Skin Care / Leakage

• Take Care of Your Skin

• Calming Rashes

• Bad Smell at Stoma Site

• Peristomal Skin Care (skin around a feeding or output ostomy)

• Enterostomal Therapy (ET) Nurses Can Be Very Helpful

• Soothing Skin Irritation (Butt Paste recipe)

• Suggestions for Granulation Tissue (Snug fitting tube, Kenalog or Triamcinalon cream, tissue to absorb leakage, Sof-wick® IV sponge, Lidocaine before silver nitrate application)

• Triamcinolone Acetonide Cream for Granulation Tissue

• Another Technique for Granulation Tissue (Colloidal Silver)

• Calendula Cream for Granulation Tissue

• Dressing/Site Care Ideas (Biopatch® Antimicrobial Dressing / Bag Balm® Cream)

• The Fungus Among Us (Tips for fighting a fungal skin infection)

• Suggestion for Irritated Skin (Oil of Olay Total Body Wash)

• Pain Around G-tube Site (Antibiotic cream soothes skin)

• Dressing More Comfortable (Exu-Dry Wound Dressing, Hollister Drain/Tube Attachment Device)

Tube Care

• Medication Clogging Tubes

• Declogging a Tube

• No Pain with J-tube Placement (Hurricane Spray™ application helps)

• Tube Cleaning Tip (Fork helps squeeze out formula build-up in extension tubing)

• New Tube or Catheter (Keep the packaging!)

• Tip for cleaning your tube and changing your tube

• PEJ Tubes Are Being Used More Frequently

• Black Mickey

• How Often Should You Change a Mickey?

Helpful Products / Adaptive Devices (see also Skin Care)
Products/suggestions are listed below for member convenience.
Listing does not imply endorsement by the Oley Foundation.

• Medical Pump: No Batteries Required

• Versatile Tube Protector

• Infusion-Friendly Backpack

• My Tubie Jammies (One-piece pajamas for infants and toddlers with a "tube extension ring" that allow tubes/catheter to pass through the chest or leg. Custom orders available)

• Large Onesies with Patch for Tube, plus other adaptive clothing

• Backpacks for Kids, Tubes Wraps, and Button Covers

• Washable Pads Wick Moisture Away

• Custom Enteral Backpacks

• Feeding through an Ostomy Bag Using a Universal Catheter Access Port

• Stand Frees Hands

• Any Backpack Can be Tube-Friendly

• Bigger Better Bodysuit

• Gus Gears (tubing covers, ostomy bag covers, etc.)

• Pill Crushing Solution

• Portable IV Pole (very lightweight, aluminum)

• No More Tangles (Device keeps your tubes separate)

• Syringe Alternative (Device holds syringe for bolus feeding)

• Clamp Makes Hooking-up Easier (hemostat clip prevents leakage)

• Clip Helps Avoid Drips (Simple clip holds dangling end of tube)

• Flexible Tube Holder (Convatec Flexi-Trak tapes)

• Strap Holds G-Tubes (Keeps dangling portion neatly tucked away)

• Makeshift G-tube Holder (Uses name tag clip)

• More G-Tube Holders

• Tummy Tunnels (Iron-on patch provides access to tubes without damaging clothing)

• AMT Clamp (Securely holds G- and J-tubes to extension tubing, preventing disconnects and leakage)

• BandNet  (Netting to hold on dressings without tape)

• Clothes Hold Tubes, IV Lines, Bags (Specialized onesie for HPEN infants)

• Swimsuit for Female EN Consumers

• Device Crushes and Administers Meds

• Mortor & Pestle Crushes Pills Easily

• Bags Help Child with Motility/Pressure Issues (Farrell bags)

• Lopez Valve Helpful (in opening and closing tube for feeding, flushing)

• Excilon® Drain Sponges Hold Up Better

• Low-Cost Alternative to Drain Sponge Dressings (Feminine napkins cheaper, protect clothing from leakage)

• Device Allows Feeding Tube to Go Through an Ostomy Bag Without Leakage

• Adaptor on G-tube Keeps Breaking Off (eraser/eye drop top good substitutes)

• Press'n SealÒKeeps G-Tube Port Closed (Adhesive keeps G-tube port cap on)

• Elongated Toilet Bowl More Convenient (for emptying ostomy bags)

• Backpacks Made for Kids with Pumps
   

Social / Travel / Swimming / School

• FREE Restaurant Card Makes Eating Out Easier

• Dining Out

• Recipe for Surviving a Social Gathering When You Can’t Eat

• Customizing Your Tube Feeding Experience (Slide show courtesy of Laura Matarese, PhD, RD, LDN, FADA, CNSD, from her presentation at the Oley Foundation Regional Conference, held in February 2008, Chicago, IL.  A DVD of this presentation is available from the Oley Video/DVD Library).

• Cruising for Adventure

• Swimming with a Tube or Catheter

• Swimming with a G-Tube

• Swimsuit for Female EN Consumers

• Help Your Tube Feeder Succeed at School  (Individual Health Plan form in MS word or PDF format.)

Pain (see also Skin Care)

• Bags Help Child with Motility/Pressure Issues (Farrell bags)

• No Pain with J-tube Placement (Hurricane Spray™ application helps)

General Information

• Drug Administration through a Feeding Tube

• Continuous Feeding an Infant or Toddler Overnight

• Tube Feeding Emergency Kit

• Be A.W.A.R.E. Campaign Promotes Safety

• HEN Complication Charts

• ASPEN Updates Tube Feeding (EN) Recommendations

• Tube Feeding 101

• Tube Feeding Associated Diarrhea

• Recommendation for Odor at Stoma Site

• Questions new tube feeders should be asking

• Tips for Fellow Tube Feeders

• Customizing Your Tube Feeding Experience  (Slide show courtesy of Laura Matarese, PhD, RD, LDN, FADA, CNSD, from her presentation at the Oley Foundation Regional Conference, held in February 2008, Chicago, IL.  A DVD of this presentation is available from the Oley Video/DVD Library).

• Enterostomal Therapy (ET) Nurses Can Be Very Helpful

• How Do You Handle Leaks and Odors? (Chlorophyll tablets, M9 liquid deodorant help with ostomy bag odors)

• Elevating Nighttime Feedings

Coping Information

• Mother's advice regarding strangers talking about your child's feeding tube

• Recipe for Surviving a Social Gathering When You Can’t Eat

• Customizing Your Tube Feeding Experience  (Slide show courtesy of Laura Matarese, PhD, RD, LDN, FADA, CNSD, from her presentation at the Oley Foundation Regional Conference, held in February 2008, Chicago, IL.  A DVD of this presentation is available from the Oley Video/DVD Library).

• Tube Feeding Manual Available  “Coping Well with Home Enteral Nutrition”

• Mother thankful for tube feeding option

• Living with Tube Feeding

• Holiday Hurdles

• Coping with the Holidays

• Finding My New Normal (Profile of a tube-fed consumer)

• On the Road with Terry Edwards (Profile of a tube-fed consumer)

Formula: Commercial /Homemade

• From Soup to Nuts

• Ordering Formula Direct May Save Money

• Making Your Own Food for Tube Feeding

• Food Choices (Making your own food for tube feeding)

• How to Blend (Book by Marsha Dunn Klein)

• Need to Take in More Calories?

• Need Formula?  Try Oley's Equipment-Supply Exchange Program

Insurance Coverage / Purchasing

• Getting help to pay for prescription formula for kids

• Reimbursement Tips/Sample Appeal Letters for EN formula - from Nutricia North America

• More Tips/Resources on Insurance, Disability Benefits & Prescription Help  

• Lobby for Formula Coverage

• Tip for Parents (School lunch program pays for formula taken at school)

• Insurance Legislation for Enteral Formula

Weaning From Tube Feeding

• Feeding Programs (List of programs throughout the US that help parents teach their children to eat by mouth.)

• Articles to Read

Weaning Preparation for Children Fed by G-Tube
How Not to Say "Eat Another Bite"
The Novelty Factor
How to Prevent Your Child from Developing an Oral Aversion
 

• Websites to Investigate

American Speech Language Hearing Association (swallowing/feeding information)
Hovannesian Feeding Program
Mealtime Notions (Offers information, articles, products etc.)
National Foundation for Swallowing Disorders video
P.O.P.S.I.C.L.E. Center - Parent Organized Partnerships Supporting Infants and Children Learning to Eat
No Tube (Medical online service for children with early eating behavior disorders, especially tube dependency, from the University Children's Hospital Graz)
Tube Fed Kids Deserve to Eat (Social networking site for families and friends of tube fed children, past or present, worldwide. Most are trying to wean to oral eating.)

 

• Tools to Help Children Eat
  
              Duo-Spoon, Flexi Cups, etc.
              Feeding, Oral-Motor Treatment, Positioning and other helpful products, PLUS videos
              Beckman Tri-Chew, EZ Spoon, Ark's Mouthing Tools, etc.
              Products to Thicken Food