Over the past month or so as Baby A has begun solids, we have been having issues with her NG tube tape, because as it has been getting wet with food, it has needed to be changed more often. This led to her skin being 'ripped' every day, and causing lots of welts and open wounds.
I ended up trying lots of tapes and came to the realisation the there is no magic tape, and the best way to prevent welts is by using prevention and healing creams.
For tapes, we have decided to stick with the hospital issued 'hypafix' directly onto the skin and tube. We have tried duoderm, but she is allergic to that (perhaps as it doesn't allow the skin to breathe). We tried micropore and other types of tapes, but ultimately we've needed to find a tape that balances durability with gentleness, and hypafix seems to be the best.
We have found that changing the tape positioning (lower cheek, upper cheek, middle cheek) allows the skin time to heal, as well as changing nostril when the tube comes out.
As for prevention, a friend gave me some '3M Cavilon No Sting Barrier' which seems to be working well. I spray some onto my fingers then wipe it onto her cheek, it protects her skin a little.
Once there is a wound then keeping is slightly moist seems to be the key to healing and not letting it scab over. We use saline, Baby Balm Pot of Gold, Bepanthen, Aloe Vera Cream and Comfrey and Calendula cream. All of these creams work well, and I have tended to stick with the more natural based ones, only using bepathen when we are desperate.
We are still looking for a 'magical' tape or protective solution, so if you have any ideas, please feel free to share in the comments
I am also having issues w tape & securing it well enough on my son. For some reason his tube won't go in his right nostril. So Im always using the left. He was born 2 months early & is now 3 weeks past his due date. He can really pull out a tube unintentionally. I finally figured a good way. But I feel bad because his skin is so young & never breathes. The hospital gave us duoderm as the base and paper tape above it. It also gets moist from milk, then it gets dirty & pulls up from him rubbing his nose back & forth on my shirt when I burp him. I hate it and cant wait for it to be removed. Im going to try some of what you suggest. He doesn't have skin breakdown yet. I want to prevent it! Thanks for that post 🙂
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