Active toddler challenges

In addition to our dreadful G-tube leaks, which are increased by Peter doing those toddler things like crawling, scooting on the belly, reaching, bending, not to mention pulling on the tube and picking at the dressing, we had some more fun tonight with the TPN line!

Peter decided that he was ready to take off as I was putting away the G-tube dressing supplies and the next thing I see is his TPN line and cap on the floor, UNATTACHED!!! SCREAM!!! Fortunately the cap that came off was from the Y extension and not the one directly connected to the PICC line, and fortunately he stopped when I told him not to move. Quick handwash post G-tube dressing change, clamp the line, breathe, yell for husband, breathe again. The TPN was salvagable, however in changing the tubing out got a ton of air in the bag which the pump refused to pump out, so I had to make a whole new bag of TPN and get rid of the bag he had been using. I understand TPN is several hundred dollars a bag. Then again, hospitalization and treating a line infection is thousands of dollars a day, and a much bigger health risk. Poor Peter's blood sugar started slumping by this point and we grabbed a popsicle to try to get him over the hump. It seemed to help. Once we got the new TPN bag up and running and Peter's blood sugar leveled out now that he was receiving the 42 mL/hour of dextrose again, he started pulling on the tube and on the caps.

I worry that he is plotting the removal of the tubes now that he saw that it could come off without mommy's help!?! I need to figure out how to outsmart him now. We have used a line cover that Ellie's family gave to us, but he has been prone to getting angry when it is on and pulling more at the line. I am wondering about taping over the caps, but he is a real picker and he may just pick more at them once he notices there is something to pick off. We have to use duct tape to tape his sleeve down over a cloth cover we have over the PICC to keep him from picking at the PICC dressing. He has figured out all of the other tapes and has only had mild success removing duct tape. It is time to search the web for other parent ideas.