Your doctor can test your child for medical problems and check his growth and weight.
Baby feeding tube problems.
Reasons to tube feed.
An slp who knows about feeding and swallowing can look at how your child eats and drinks.
If the feeding problems are addressed as soon as your baby starts to show symptoms of feeding problems such as losing weight and refusing to eat the prognosis is generally favorable and is typically resolved with no long term health conditions or effect.
A feeding tube is used for infants who do not have the strength or muscle coordination to breastfeed or drink from a bottle.
A nasogastric tube goes in through the nose delivering the feed down to the baby s tummy stomach.
Another way called bolus feeding uses a pump or syringe to push the formula several times a day similar to mealtimes.
This is one of the biggest problems with feeding tubes.
Sucking and swallowing problems due to prematurity or brain problems.
Testing for feeding and swallowing disorders.
Others start out feeding orally but are unable to maintain adequate growth due to an underlying physical cause or unresolved feeding problem.
An oro gastric tube goes in to the tummy through the baby s mouth.
Usually your feeding tube won t need to be replaced for several months.
Infant feeding problems prognosis and long term outlook.
If premature babies are unable to feed from the breast or bottle they are fed via a tube.
Talk to your child s doctor if you think he has a feeding or swallowing problem.
The following are reasons why a baby might require tube feeding.
Tube feeding of premature babies.