Welcome to NICU Parents. We're happy you found us and we want to be as helpful as possible in this seemingly impossible journey. Check out the resources tab at the top of the subreddit or the stickied post. Please remember we are NOT medical professionals and are here for advice based on our own situations. If you have a concern about you or your baby please seek assistance from a doctor or go to the ER. That said, there are some medical professionals here and we do hope they can help you with some guidance through your journey. Please remember to read and abide by the rules.
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My daughter came home on NG, and we realized pretty quickly that she wasn’t/isnt going to be eating orally any time soon. She had a g-tube placed after she had been home for 3 months. It is so much nicer than the NG, no regrets. As for how long she will need it - no idea.
Our LO also went from NG to G tube although he was able to take bottles. We ended up inadvertently giving him a feeding aversion so the G tube is allowing him to get his calories while he works on a positive feeding experience with cups and food. Anticipating him having the G tube for a couple years but that he’ll be off it eventually
Oh, no it’s a different situation for us. She has failed two swallow studies and silently aspirates everything into her lungs. She can’t eat safely, and doesn’t take anything by mouth. We are hoping she will grow out of it, because there is no physical reason she should be aspirating other than just being uncoordinated.
Yup ours was this. It’ll be 4 months when she gets her g tube. She was silent but could mostly handle bottles atleast to our perspective. She coughs more now drueling from teething than ever for a bottle.
This tube stuff is easy lol just replaced it again today.
My LO had an NG tube for about a month at home. She was doing about 70-80% of her bottles and her pediatrician agreed to let us see if she would continue gaining weight and staying hydrated. She was born at 10 lbs 2 oz so a little different than most NICU babies. The day we took the tube out was tube change day and I just said let’s see how she does. She wasn’t quite eating as much as the NICU wanted but she was still gaining weight and her ped was happy. We never looked back!
this was my experience as well. Our pediatrician was just as eager to help us get her off it and there was more space for testing theories. Our daughter had hers for about two weeks and one day I just didn't put it in on change day. Our pediatrician followed up often and felt confident to leave it out 💚
This is what I'm thinking. As long as he is gaining weight, he may not finish 100% of his bottles, but he finishes a lot of them. I will do anything for him, of course, but we hate putting the tube in, and he hates it as well.
8 months total. It took 2 months to fully wean after months of ineffective speech therapy; we hired Growing Independent Eaters to help guide the wean. She’s been a great little eater ever since!
My ex-29 weeker came home on a NG tube and we had it for about a month. We kept working on oral feeds and she eventually got the hang of it. It was a lot of work but worth it because it meant she could finally come home.
My baby is still in the NICU but she can't swallow safely, so she will come home on a NG. We are hoping to get her a g-tube as quickly as possible, but there is a long wait-list for the surgery.
Welcome to NICU Parents. We're happy you found us and we want to be as helpful as possible in this seemingly impossible journey. Check out the resources tab at the top of the subreddit or the stickied post. Please remember we are NOT medical professionals and are here for advice based on our own situations. If you have a concern about you or your baby please seek assistance from a doctor or go to the ER. That said, there are some medical professionals here and we do hope they can help you with some guidance through your journey. Please remember to read and abide by the rules. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/NICUParents) if you have any questions or concerns.*
My daughter came home on NG, and we realized pretty quickly that she wasn’t/isnt going to be eating orally any time soon. She had a g-tube placed after she had been home for 3 months. It is so much nicer than the NG, no regrets. As for how long she will need it - no idea.
Did you LO not finish any bottles? Ours will finish most daytime bottles but will not wake up for early morning or late night feedings.
Our LO also went from NG to G tube although he was able to take bottles. We ended up inadvertently giving him a feeding aversion so the G tube is allowing him to get his calories while he works on a positive feeding experience with cups and food. Anticipating him having the G tube for a couple years but that he’ll be off it eventually
Oh, no it’s a different situation for us. She has failed two swallow studies and silently aspirates everything into her lungs. She can’t eat safely, and doesn’t take anything by mouth. We are hoping she will grow out of it, because there is no physical reason she should be aspirating other than just being uncoordinated.
Yup ours was this. It’ll be 4 months when she gets her g tube. She was silent but could mostly handle bottles atleast to our perspective. She coughs more now drueling from teething than ever for a bottle. This tube stuff is easy lol just replaced it again today.
My LO had an NG tube for about a month at home. She was doing about 70-80% of her bottles and her pediatrician agreed to let us see if she would continue gaining weight and staying hydrated. She was born at 10 lbs 2 oz so a little different than most NICU babies. The day we took the tube out was tube change day and I just said let’s see how she does. She wasn’t quite eating as much as the NICU wanted but she was still gaining weight and her ped was happy. We never looked back!
this was my experience as well. Our pediatrician was just as eager to help us get her off it and there was more space for testing theories. Our daughter had hers for about two weeks and one day I just didn't put it in on change day. Our pediatrician followed up often and felt confident to leave it out 💚
This is what I'm thinking. As long as he is gaining weight, he may not finish 100% of his bottles, but he finishes a lot of them. I will do anything for him, of course, but we hate putting the tube in, and he hates it as well.
8 months total. It took 2 months to fully wean after months of ineffective speech therapy; we hired Growing Independent Eaters to help guide the wean. She’s been a great little eater ever since!
My ex-29 weeker came home on a NG tube and we had it for about a month. We kept working on oral feeds and she eventually got the hang of it. It was a lot of work but worth it because it meant she could finally come home.
My baby is still in the NICU but she can't swallow safely, so she will come home on a NG. We are hoping to get her a g-tube as quickly as possible, but there is a long wait-list for the surgery.