G-Tube & J-Tube Support
Help for families caring for a child who is fed through a tube placed into the stomach or small intestine.
Overview
Understanding G-Tube & J-Tube Support at Home
A G-tube is a feeding tube that enters the stomach directly through the abdominal wall. A J-tube goes a little further along, into the small intestine.
One may be placed when eating by mouth is unsafe, too tiring, or simply not enough to meet a child's needs for nutrition, fluids and growth.
A tube may carry all of a child's nutrition, or work alongside eating by mouth — many children with a tube still taste, eat and enjoy food.
The tube is a route, not a diagnosis. For some children it is temporary, and for others it is a long-term part of how they stay well fed.
- Care follows your child's physician-ordered plan
- A care need, not a diagnosis
- Support for the whole family, not only the child
- Care that fits around ordinary family life
Support at home
What Families May Need Support With
What support at home may look like, where it is ordered by your child's physician.
Nurses carry out the feeding plan written by the child's doctor and dietitian, consistently and with careful records.
They watch the things that tell you how it is going — comfort, tolerance, energy, hydration, the skin around the site — and raise changes with the medical team early.
Families learn the routine with someone experienced beside them, which is a very different experience from learning it alone in the first week home.
The team coordinates with the child's gastroenterology, dietary and feeding therapy providers so everyone is working from the same plan.
When feeds run overnight, nursing means a parent is not the only person awake and responsible.
Safety and Monitoring
Care that follows the plan
Nursing care is carried out as your child's physician has ordered it.
Changes noticed early
What the nurse sees day to day is passed on to your child's medical team.
Families prepared, not left alone
Parents learn the routine alongside the team, at their own pace.
Related Services
Enteral Feeding Support
Help at home with tube feeding routines for children who are fed through a G-tube or similar.
Pediatric Skilled Nursing
Nursing care for medically complex children, delivered at home instead of in a hospital room.
Complex Pediatric Care
Coordinated home care for children whose needs cross breathing, feeding, neurology and daily living.
Related conditions
Related Conditions in Children
Diagnoses where this care need often comes up. Having one does not mean a child needs this care.
Helpful Resources
Related guides and resources
- A Parent's Guide to Down Syndrome in Children
A genetic condition caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21, with a wide range of abilities and health needs.
- A Parent's Guide to Spinal Muscular Atrophy in Children
A genetic condition affecting the nerve cells that control muscle movement, often involving breathing and feeding.
- Your Guide to the Georgia Pediatric Program
What GAPP is, who it serves, how requests are reviewed, and how to start a conversation.
- The Parent Caregiver Pathway
What the parent caregiver route involves, and why it is not available to every family.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will our child still be able to eat by mouth?
Often yes, at least to some degree, and many children keep eating or tasting alongside tube feeding. Whether it is safe for your child is decided by their medical team, usually with a feeding or swallowing specialist involved, and the answer can change as a child develops.
Does having a tube hurt?
Once a site has healed, children generally go about their day without being bothered by it, and many are not particularly aware of it. Discomfort, redness or anything that seems new is something to raise with your child's medical team rather than wait out.
Is a feeding tube permanent?
Not always. Some children use one through a period of illness, surgery or slow growth and later move away from it; for others it stays as a reliable part of daily life. Your child's team can tell you how they see it for your child.
Can our child swim, bathe and play normally?
Most children with a feeding tube bathe, play and take part in normal childhood things, sometimes with small adjustments. Ask your child's team what applies to your child, especially early on while a new site is still settling.
About this information
This page is general information for families, written in plain language by the WeLIVE Healthcare team. It is not medical advice and does not replace the judgment of your child’s physician, who knows your child. Always talk with your child’s care team about their specific needs.
We're Here to Support Your Family.
Tell us a little about your child and our team will follow up to talk through care options at home.
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