Venting with G tube

[Anonymous]

Here is another question…. Matthew does not have a fundo but i notice that he is having a hard time with burps etc since his PEG was placed and i was told that i could vent him… but nobody really explained it.

So questions are:

– do you vent before or after feedings… and for how long?

– we were told to put a 60cc syringe, open, and higher than his belly for 10minutes… but all types of stuff is coming out… i stopped because i got more than 20cc and did not know what to do. Does the food eventually get back into him or do i have ot push it back in? if i push it… won’t i be pushing air again into him???

– if i do it after feeding… is the whole feeding going to come back up??

Sorry i am sure these are simple things but i have no clue

[Anonymous]

I would hold a 60cc syringe off to the side and let the “stuff” come out until I either saw bubbles or heard the burp. If you hold the syringe higher the “stuff” will go back in. It is much more difficult when they are crying.

I dont think I have vented him but maybe once since the button has been placed. Not sure why – perhaps the burping has gotten better.

Hope that helps.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Laura… i know. For soem reason he is having a hard time burping… OK, so wait for the bubble… and let it all go back down… (sorry, i am just laughing because if i did not know about tube feeding i would really think this si all gross).

One more question… do it before or after feedings??

How is Christian doing>?Any improvement in eating? It is taking me a bit of time to get used to the new tube but he really does not seem to mind and… we have had no vomit! I also have the infinity… so easy to use…why did you switch?

[Anonymous]

I always started with venting before a bolus feed and before a continouous – figure get out all the air I can before I fill it with food. Unless he started crying (sucking in a lot of air) I wouldn’t do it after. Sometimes in the middle of the night if there are issues – I will vent to see if that is the issue first.

No improvement on Christian’s eating. We meet our new therapist tomorrow – hopefully she will have some insight – we are also just about 2 weeks post adenoid removal/tubes/frenulectomy. The ENT wants to see if any improvments are made in the next two weeks – if not in for another swallow study for function not just aspiration.

We were initially changed from the entralite to the epump – the med supply company was doing a study on which customers liked better. Then we have SUCKY insurance and changed our med supply company and ended up with one that only provides the PET…grrr.

[Anonymous]

I vent Samantha’s mic-key each night before bed, sometimes it helps, some times it does not. I can usually tell right away if it is going to do any good b/c the air comes out pretty quickly for her. They do say to make sure that all of the stomach content goes back into the stomach so that it does not upset the balance of the stomach acids.

This would be a terribly gross conversation if we did not live this day to day

[Anonymous]

Laura – how did the meeting go… anything or any improvement yet?

Janice – thanks…. i am no longer venting. Does not seem to do anything and i cannot get Matthew to stand still and he is back to burping really well so i assume that he is getting it all out. Yes, pretty gross conversation but hey… you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do!! How is Samantha… i have to read a ton of updates i received… jsut connected modem so may take a while!

[Anonymous]

Hi Laura,
I’m going to bug you with some questions–how did the new feeding therapy go? If there are any new tips, please share! Emma’s feeding is actually getting worse (this is not the norm, I assure you all!!!) as time goes on. We are all at our wit’s end. The GI just ran a bunch of tests, hoping to find an infection or physical cause. All were normal & the neuro just thinks her brain does not register thirst or hunger. That makes sense to me, BUT STILL, I am hopeful that someway, somehow we can get our Emma to eat & drink. We are not able to do any major feeding therapy sessions as per the neuro, saying that would only be harmful to her at this point. So, I need any fun ideas, anything new you come across. She is in speech now & we work on eating/oral motor, but she has not made any progress in that area whatsoever.

Hi Thais! Looks like you’ve got it all squared away. I’m so glad to hear how well Mattew did. YEY! Hope he puts on some good weight & has some successes in his feeding program. Take care!!!

[Anonymous]

Hi Lauren

I hate to recommend other sites here but… have you ever been to the parent-2-parent.com/forum website? Some of us here with major eating problems are there too…. some moms have babies with just reflux but most of them have to handle either a tube or a disability or both at the same time and there are tons of ideas there for feeding…. hope Emma is doing well in other areas!!

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