As summer starts to wind down, the last thing our little ones want to think about is heading back to school. But for parents with children who receive nutrition via an enteral feeding pump, it is important to start thinking about how to best accommodate your child’s feeding plan while minimizing disruptions to their education. Thankfully, with a little preparation and education, the process can be a positive experience.
PREPARATION AT HOME
Sending your child to school with a feeding pump requires a little preparation. Some suggested starting points are shown below:
- Review your child’s 504 Plan or an Individualized Education Program (IEP)
- Ensure the school has proper documentation from your child’s doctor, including a detailed feeding plan
- Set up meetings to meet with appropriate school staff to discuss educational needs and review plans for any potential complications
- Update emergency contacts each year
- Gather extra supplies for at-school emergencies
SUPPLIES AT SCHOOL
Creating an extra supply kit to keep at your child’s school can help ensure your child has what he or she needs. Some ideas for a school supply kit are shown below.
- Extra feeding bag for your pump
- Back up feeding supplies in case the pump runs out of battery
- Additional formula
- Extra set of clean clothes
- Back up extension sets or other tube accessories that may be needed
- Extra tube securing devices (if needed)
- Consider creating laminated feeding plan instructions
Remember to label everything with your child’s name.
SCHOOL RESOURCES
It is also important to ensure that the school has the proper resources, staff, and education to help manage your child’s nutritional support. This may need to be re-clarified each year before school begins.
- Provide the school with detailed instructions on your child’s feeding plan
- Provide detailed information about your child’s feeding tube. Oley’s Feeding Tube Information Card is a great resource describing all the information you should include: Feeding Tube Information Card by OleyFoundation
- Ensure the school staff is educated on your child’s specific preparation procedures, ensuring correct tube placement and any medication administration directions.
- Make sure you are comfortable with all aspects of using your Infinity Pump (or other feeding pump) Reach out to our clinical team if you have any questions or would like additional training on the pump. Contact us at [email protected].
- Determining your child’s “point person(s)” – a specific teacher or administrator that your child can rely on, not only for their feeding needs, but in case of any problems.
- If the opportunity arises, consider educating your child’s classmates. Kids are curious. As a parent, host a show-and-tell day for your child’s class. Use resources like a stuffed animal or other educational play toys to teach the class what tube feeding is and how it helps support complete nutrition. Depending on your child’s age, he or she may even want to be involved in the education themselves. This can help them feel empowered in their situation and ensures that they are very familiar with their own feeding plan. Some great educational toy resources can be found at https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheButterflyPig
BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS
Each day before school starts, it is important to take a few steps to ensure a positive experience for your child and their at-school caregivers. These steps could include things like:
- Making sure the pump is fully charged by charging it the night before
- Priming the feeding set appropriately to reduce air-in-line alarms if your child uses a backpack.
- Gather your “go-to-school bag” the night before to avoid the chaos of the morning
Lastly, consider joining various support and advocacy groups. These organizations are great for connecting with others with situations like you and your family.
One such organization is the Oley Foundation, a national, non-profit organization that provides information, peer support, networking opportunities and more for individuals who depend on home intravenous (parenteral) and/or tube-fed (enteral) nutrition, their families, professionals, and others. They have many fantastic resources for parents and patients, and we have linked a few below:
