Preparing your home for a child or family member with a feeding tube can seem like a daunting task, and your day-to-day may look much different than before. One way to better prepare for your new routines is by organizing. By organizing your tube-feeding equipment, you can better keep track of your inventory of supplies on hand, and make the tube-feeding process more efficient in the home. We like to call this your ‘Enteral Pantry’.
Here are some helpful tips to start your “pantry”!
- The first would be to pick a location that will work best for you. You may want to consider the easiest places to access during feeding/change times, possibly the kitchen area, a bedroom, or a closet.
- Determine what supplies you need to store. You will need to find what you want to store your supplies in (baskets, bins, drawer organizers, etc.), so making a stock list will ensure your storage choices are ‘right-sized’.
- Find a creative and fun way to label your supplies. You can label each basket, bin, or shelf to show what supply goes where. Doing this will make the feeding process much easier as you will have a designated space for specific items, and don’t need to search for items in every nook and cranny.
Enteral Pantry on-the-go!
Enteral pantries make life a little easier while at home, but you will need to consider solutions for while on the go:
- Consider having a small bin or basket in your vehicle as you may need some supplies while you are out and about
- The enteral backpack can also be used to store equipment for your daily outings.
- Consider an ‘enteral pantry’ for school/daycare – Make it easier for them by providing the supplies in an arranged manner. This can help improve the ease of use for everyone involved, and hopefully make the tube feeding process seamless with few errors.
After speaking with some of our customers, many say how beneficial organizing their “pantry” of enteral feeding supplies is. Some of our current customers were even kind enough to show how they organize their supplies at home. They said that the one “trick” that made everything easier was to have everything separated in different baskets and containers, which made it easy to find each item.
Remember – there is no one best way to organize your enteral pantry. What works for one person might not work for the next, but creating a more organized environment for tube feeding in the home should make your life easier and less stressful. Organizing supplies will also help to make the re-order process less stressful by easily showing you what you have on hand, which will help you see what you need for next month’s shipment.
Always remember that Shield HealthCare and your local reps are here to support you on this journey. Please feel free to reach out with questions regarding your supplies, and ask questions about creating an environment that works well with your lifestyle.
