In honor of Feeding Tube Awareness Week, I thought it would be interesting to share what it’s like to have a child with a feeding tube. Yes, there are differences in how we do things sometimes but not as many as you might think. Not every family’s experience is the same so there may be some significant differences between our routine and someone else’s.

The first thing we do when our son wakes up is feed him. We have a schedule but it’s flexible enough we don’t need to wake him earlier than he’s ready to get up. He still drinks from a bottle even though he’s almost 2 years old because, typically, kids drink less when they transition from a bottle. Once he’s eaten as much as he wants we vent the air out of his tube. After, we feed him the rest of his food by gravity. We attach a syringe to his feeding tube without the plunger and pour his formula into the syringe. We allow his stomach to accept the food at whatever rate it’s comfortable and read books while he’s being fed. For most of this process, he sits or lays in my lap. We read two to three books during the remainder of the feeding keeping him relaxed and comfortable. We repeat the feeding process every three to four hours.

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