Tube feeding page

[amyrose]

I was wondering if anyone has any experience with having to tube feed a child. And what they think of the stuff they get fed with?
I work in the UK in a special needs school for children who have profound multiple learning difficulties and several ( well a lot!) of these children are tube fed and have absolutely no food by mouth. Now, they have a liquid feed pumped straight into their stomaches via a tube and this food supplement is called pedaisure. I have read the ingredients and I would not want to pump it into my child!
I look after one of the children on an evening and her mum also does not like the ingredients and so has started to blend some food on an evening to put down her tube instead ( by no means primal either! but still I think better) She told me the dietitian would not be happy if she new what was going down the tube instead of pediasure.
Any thoughts on this subject? I have googled it but not found any other parents who have liquidized food for their children.

[PaleoCurious]

I was bored and looking through some of my food books last night and came across a recipe in my Nourishing Traditions book for a meat based infant formula. I bet that would be better than the pediasure. I have the book sitting here. The ingredients are bone broth, a small amount of liver, lactose, bifidobacterium infantis (?), whey, coconut oil, cod liver oil, sunflower oil (eek), olive oil and acerola powder.

[FairyRae]

I'm guessing that the kids you are talking about may be older (not infants?) I have experience caring for a child who was tube fed until he was almost 3 (he is now working on eating purees and other solids by mouth). At the time he was fed a combo of older child hypoallergenic formula (possibly similar to the pediasure) and pureed veggies and fruits. For him, the number of calories was the most important factor from his doctors' perspectives (he had trouble gaining weight.) So, IMO, it shouldn't really matter what is put in (***from the healthcare provider's perspective***) as long as you are a. getting enough calories in and b. getting at least the RDA's for vitamins/minerals of a child that age/size in (from food or supps.)

If it were *my* child, you can bet your ass I'd be pureeing all sorts of good, wholesome, real, primal foods. I would, as needed, calculate the calories and macronutrients, along with the vitamin/mineral content of the foods. But it would totally be based on the ideas of the Primal Blueprint, Perfect Health Diet, and the ideas of traditional foods circles (ie WAPF etc), makind certain to avoid any food sensitivity issues (which would be a slow process of introducing one food at a time). So, lots of high quality meat, fat, veggies, some fruits, fermented veggies, bone broth, organ meats, 'safe starches' (al la Perfect Health Diet) etc. etc. etc. Lots of nutrient dense foods. If needed, supplemental vitamin D, magnesium, etc...

HTH! Just my .02!

[jem51]

Yes, a 'formula' is used for tube feeding in any age. BUT if this tube goes into the stomach, any liquified food should be okay. Only problem is, if it is not completely liquid, it would clog. Now w the formula if it gets clogged, a little coke/pepsi will bust right through but w food debis, you'd probably need to aspirate the contents first....not the end of the world.

It would be great to see a study of these kids being fed a pureed, real food diet rather than that awful liquid....see if their functioning would improve.

[amyrose]

Thanks for the replies guys, not really a subject I would talk t the people I work with as the are not that health contentious and would not agree with liquidizing own food for tube fed children. I have on occasions read the ingredients to them and said how can the second ingredient be sugar surely this isnt nice stuff to put into the children! but they shrug and say they need the calories.
The children in my care have been tube fed from babies and the youngest is now 4 and the oldest is 16. These are children who do not move, have no or minimal control over their movment and the child I care for on an evening is now 6 and is getting bigger by the day! and when I say bigger I mean she is getting fat and I think it is down to sugary soya based pediasure. It makes me angry that these children need the best nutrition they can get and they are all fed on this commercial product that is yuk! It does have added vitamins and minerals but it is bulked up with rubbish.
All the children I know fed on this stuff have some form of epileptic seizures, I wonder if there is a link or if the seizures would become less if fed on a primal based tube feed?!! I will have to get Mark to come up with a new feed for tube feeding!

[FairyRae]

I would totally share some links on nutrition w/ the mom you were talking with who is interested in pureeing food for the tube feeds. Food can be linked to all kinds of reactions and behaviors in kids w/ certain disabilities and disorders. No harm in giving these kids healthier options as long as there are no allergy issues there...

BTW, I saw a lot of improvement, in every way, when the child I watch started eating a lot more real food (albeit, pureed) instead of the hypoallergenic formula. More energy, he seemed to have a growth spurt, and just overall seemed more healthy and vibrant. He continues to do well (eating purees by mouth currently, working on adding more textures.

Just my .02! Again, good luck! And if Primal is a little too extreme for them, the book _Real Food: What to Eat and Why_ by Nina Planck is a FABULOUS jumping off point IMO... A little less restrictive, but mostly the same ideas (good fats, high quality meats, local veggies and fruits--is pro whole grains but does discuss the paleo/primal perspective...)

[Pitter]

seizures respond well to a ketogenic diet. is there a dietitian supervising their feedings and growth? might be worth bringing up to him/her.

[Smith Holton]

Mr. Rental in Aurora, IL hes on lake st. but sorry dont have the number and he dosent require a credit card