Why It’s Time to Put the Sticker Chart Away
Children are not “good” for eating, and “naughty” for not – and this is especially true for those who have been tube fed for all or most of their lives. For this population, “not eating” is a strangely appropriate response to being tube fed.
Bonding with Your Tube-Fed Baby
Losing the ability to feed your baby, whether you had planned nursing or snuggling with a bottle, is heartbreakingly hard. However, we can still bond and share togetherness around feeding – by broadening the definition of “feeding” to “proving nutrition so our baby can thrive.”
Hunger and Satiety Regulation: Part Two
Hunger and satiety regulation not only impacts feeding behaviors, but it can tell us if a child is getting enough nourishment to sustain sufficient growth.
Hunger and Satiety Regulation: Part One
Hunger and satiety regulation play a pivotal role in successfully weaning off tube feeds. At Growing Independent Eaters, we often divide a child’s weaning plan into four phases to establish hunger and satiety regulation.
Gimmicks and Gadgets
Every caregiver I’ve encountered has travelled down what I like to call the “weaning worry spiral.” And we travel it because weaning can trigger incredible stress – stress that leads us to try anything and everything to just get our kids to take one, big bite!
Understanding the "Picky Eater"
As a kid, I was the designated “picky eater” of the family. Every family has one, and we all know who they are. My mother would often introduce me to new people as “her picky eater” and the one “whose best vegetables are ketchup and pumpkin pie.” I would slink off with the kids, doing my best to disappear until the inevitable dinner bell rung and I'd have to endure the humiliation of being the picky eater in front of strangers.
Weaning and Weighing
Starting a feeding tube wean can be scary for parents because the idea of cutting calories to establish hunger regulation often leads to some initial weight loss. And setting your child up to lose weight is counterintuitive to everything we have been focused on since birth!
When Your Weaning Kiddo Gets Sick…
Stomach bugs, strep, colds, coughs, pneumonia, and flu season – every childhood illness can prove to be quite intense for many families, but perhaps most for those whose children have recently weaned (or are in the process of weaning) from their feeding tubes. So if you fall into that category, and you're navigating the world of sick kids who are mid- or post-wean, we have a few tips that might be helpful.