The BARD into which we add an extension tube for feeding.
As there's no lock between the BARD and the extension, if Reuben moves in bed (!), it's likely to come out.
I'd say 4/7 nights the BARD button has become detached and we've woken to find Reuben's bed soaked with formula.
The problem with the BARD is that it is flat to his skin, unlike the Mic-key which has a raised profile on account of a secure locking system. We have felt the benefits of Reu being able to better enjoy tummy time in the last week but have been plagued with feeding him his cloying antibiotics and of course, the soaking bed issue and his loss of formula.
Tape to his button not his stomach? Will that work tonight? I cannot bear for him to go through the pain of having the BARD pulled out when it's meant to be there to stay, that's the irony, but if this persists, our only option seems to be to have it taken out under anaesthesia next week when he's having his ear tubes and L&B throat scope. There is no balloon to deflate like the Mic-key to allow it to come out easily. Only brute force to pull it out of his stomach.
Choices: a Mic-key button that deflates or a BARD that loses its extension line?
Ellen.. you mentioned different extensions. I wonder if they'll work?
On the other side, at OT yesterday, Reuben swallowed about 1oz of yogurt. I remember Amy writing about Max, it's all about motivation at the time (cars lined up on the tray) and if Reu wants to eat, he will.
It was roasting here yesterday, 87F, and he had a sensational day afterwards by the beach, sleeping only 15mins all day with the excitement of his health on antibiotics.
4 comments:
yeah have you got any old mikeys jsut chop the end of the mickey the party where the feeding is down to about where ud put the balloon insert that into the area where ud put the bard extension and let me know how that goes they did a simila thing with me i was having loads of probs witht eh tube i have they say its something to do with chemicals that r in the meds and formula but this new extention worked great or even try just plugging feeds in with otu the extention something we do works good
also nightly or a few times aday befor each feeding just dip hes tube into a bowl of water with soda or coke will clean gereat another thing we do wich has worked makes it sticky
Sorry we are just catching up, moved all weekend and haven't got internet service yet. On the button, this is the kind that Lucas has had since last summer. A few tricks we use are to kind of loop the feeding tube up towards his stomachand then back down around his side and out the bottom of his outfit, that way he has some slack to give when he rolls over in his sleep, or plays with his tube when he wakes and plays quietly at night... ... Also, another suggestion is to get a small rubber band to attached the tube (ones like for braces on teeth, or little doggy braids) Hope you catch up more soon espcially on your other updates!!
Found your blog looking for info on mic-kay vs BARD. My daughter has had a BARD for 2 years now, we replaced it once due to sizing issues, and today we are replacing our 3rd due to malfuction (valve failure, now this one is coming apart at the base). Our issue is that the BARD has to be switched out in the OR, which is such a production...but a rare one. We are wondering how frequently we would have to be switching the mic-key and worrying about ruptures. Our daughter is a normally active 5 year old who is in mainstream classes, so we are reluctant to swap one big headache of a problem for a more frequent one. I don't know.
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