Some disabled children have difficulties with eating and drinking. This might be because they have experienced difficulties in the past. Sometimes it can continue, even when the original cause of the difficulty has been resolved.
Tube feeding may be necessary for some children who refuse or are not able to suck or swallow to get proper nutrition or to avoid food passing into the lungs rather than the stomach.
Some children need tube feeding to make sure they get enough calories to stay healthy.
NGT (Nasogastric Tube)
An NGT tube passes directly into the tummy via the nose.
PEG (Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy)
PEG passes directly through the skin into the stomach.
Some children have some food via their mouth and some food via the tube. Your SLT and dietician will be able to advise how much to give via the mouth and tube.
Some children need tube feeding because they have severe reflux. In certain cases, the tube passes through the stomach into the jejunum. Because this bypasses the stomach, the feed must be continuous. This means your child will have a constant drip of milk going into their jejunum.