Ng tube and breastfeeding

[Cobo]

Hi, does anyone have any experience of breastfeeding a baby while they are also being tube fed? DS, 15 weeks, has a congenital heart condition and was tube fed for the first few weeks. We established exclusive breastfeeding for a few weeks, but due to slow / no weight gain we're now on a combination of breastfeeding and high calorie formula. His weight gain has been pretty ropey again this week, and I'm mentally preparing myself for being told he'll need the tube back in (it has been mentioned as a possibility).

Has anyone continued to breastfeed when a tube has been introduced? How did you balance the two, and were you able to move back to fully breastfeeding at any point?

Thanks for any advice.

Yes. I both continued to breast feed while ds had an NG tube, after which we went back to exclusively breast feeding. It does depend on how much energy you both have but I'd feed first then top up through the tube with expressed milk. The hospital should have help for you both.

Hi Cobo I can't remember exactly what we did (my ds3 (now 13yrs) had/has a congenital heart defect). I think DS had formula at some points (when in PICU) and I expressed (so maybe he had some breast milk) and he had some kind of potato starch based formula through a NG tube at some point after some surgery. I remember feeding him Petit Filous because they have lots of calories. I also remember stubbornly continuing expressing even when I was getting a teaspoonful of breast milk and after ds3's major surgery, being able to breast feed till he was about 18months old.

Babies have to work hard to breast feed though don't they so maybe an easier way of getting calories without using too many up would be a good idea for now. We did a lot of just muddling through.

Thank you both, that's reassuring to hear. That's brilliant that you got to 18 months, whereonthestair. That's how long I fed DS1 for, so I'd be very happy to to be able to do it long term in some form for Ds2.

I feel for you Cobo. Keep plugging away . I remember some very difficult times but Ds3 is 13 now (as I said) and he's doing really well.

Got muddled with user names there, sorry! Plugging away is definitely what it feels like at times, but it's good to hear there's at least hope for continuing to breastfeed.

Hello,
I was in a similar position nearly six years ago. In the end my DS1 was exclusively breastfed. I fed him until he was 26 months old.

He was 8Ib 11oz at birth but by the time he was finally able to move off the ventilator and on to CPAP he weighed 6Ib 2oz.

You are doing a brilliant job. Good luck. I hope he recovers well from surgery and he does some good growing.

Thank you, that's brilliant to know. We've fended off the feeding tube for another week, just dreading him catching his 3-year-old brother's cold now!