Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Retraining my 8 week old to feed after extubation?

My son suffered respiratory failure and cardiac arrest due to complications from a URI on 5/6/09 (5 weeks old). He thankfully was revived, but was put on a ventilator for 8 days. During his code he was improperly intubated and suffered an esophageal perforation which required immediate surgery and he had 3 JP drains put on his chest to drain the infection he suffered from his stomach contents spilling into his chest cavity. Now b/c of the ventilation and the hole in his throat he has been on TPN's and IV lipids since 5/7/09. He is now out of the PICU and has been given the OK to start bottle feeding again, but seems to have forgotten how to swallow and latch on to the nipple. He does fine with his pacifier though. I was wondering if anyone had any tips for me on how to help my son get back into bottle feeding so he can return home. I'd also like to add that he has suffered no brain damage from his arrest so that isn't an issue.

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