Tube Feeding Weaning Intensives
Weaning from Tube Feeding – Intensives Programming
AZ+A offers personalized in-person or online options and packages available based on your location and needs. Let us become your right-hand coach as your child moves away from tube dependency and gains the strength and freedom to become an oral eater.
AZ+A’s intensive feeding programs help wean infants and children from their feeding tubes and also help children who are at risk with limited feeding or lack of nutrition. AZ+A’s weaning services for tube-fed children are built on the foundation of the child’s trust and appetite. When your child has a complex medical history that has involved tube feeding, there may be a variety of issues that need to be addressed. Our Occupational Therapy team collaborates with your child’s medical team to create plans for long-term success. We look at the whole child which may include the impacts of oral or motor-sensory issues, understanding hunger, and perhaps feeding habits/behavioral struggles as a result of these health issues.
Our tube weaning program includes:
- Transitioning off of G-Tubes or NG tubes
- Comprehensive emotional, physical, and social readiness assessment in collaboration with child‘s medical team
- Instructions and support for long-term success
- Parent coaching, training, and in-the-moment support
- Helping them become a happy eater – virtual or in-person sessions in the homey AZ+A coach house are available
- Strategies to move toward joyful family mealtime
- 24/7 (almost) digital connection to your therapist via email, text, WhatsApp, FaceTime, and video reviews
*The timing of these intensives can range from a few days to a few weeks with ongoing support. We look at each individual child and their unique circumstances to establish a plan. From the moment we start, we will be your coach and will do what is most effective. This may include: WhatsApp, texting, calls, etc. to get you and your child on track on solid foods.
We look to understand the self-regulation of the child by asking these questions:
- Can they feel hunger?
- Can they start to increase oral intake on their own?
- How do we stimulate their sensory and motor systems?
- Can we look at the caregivers and help them trust the child’s ability to regulate their hunger?
- How do we create long-term success for the child and family?
Questions? Schedule a time with an expert.
Tube Feeding Weaning Long Term Skills
There are many reasons for tube feeding. There can be birth defects or complications at birth or even an underlying disease that makes tube feeding necessary. We want to make sure that experience can be as effective as possible for long term growth and care.
Relationship
Strengthening the relationship between your child and their caregivers to establish trust and routines for the best possible outcomes.
Child Led
Allowing the child to understand its own body to recognize hunger, initiate actions and enjoy the experience.
Family
Involving the family to create opportunities for learning and reciprocation around eating and mealtimes.