Foster's Story

Our son, Foster, had a feeding tube put in at 3-weeks-old after he had open heart surgery. We were discharged with the NG tube as he simply was not eating enough (barely eating 8ml) to sustain on his own. After 2 months of being tube dependent, we knew if we didn’t try to wean him soon it would get harder every day moving forward. So, after much research online and seeing many recommendations, we reached out to Growing Independent Eaters (GIE). After our consultation call, I finally felt like someone understood our situation. I literally cried with relief when I hung up.

While initially, it was medically necessary for my son to have the tube, we had no support from our medical team on how to wean him off and how to help Foster understand hunger. But with GIE, I felt supported and validated in wanting to try to help my 3-month-old baby eat naturally.

Becky developed our plan and was there every step of the way (too many texts to count!) I was in shock as I couldn’t believe how quickly he took to the bottle once he recognized what appetite felt like. We reached the final phase and took out the tube permanently after 4 weeks of starting the wean. Our son is now 6 months and consuming an age appropriate intake, trying solids and gaining weight.

I cannot say enough positive things about GIE. They helped changed Foster’s path. With their expertise, guidance and support we were able to successfully accomplish a wean that I feared wasn’t possible.