HAN Week: Supporting Henry's feeding journey

What does Henry's feeding routine look like today?

Henry is primarily on a blended diet but relies on HAN to help top up his calorie intake in a simple way. He starts his day (often super early!) with 165ml of blended foods and ends it with a slow overnight feed at 10pm.

We didn't always follow this routine, but after multiple respiratory infections and a long hospital stay in autumn 2025, Henry needed some extra nutritional support to help him regain strength and weight. It's been such a relief to see him gain weight, while also noticing a reduction in his vomiting.

Knowing we don't have to constantly find ways to increase the calories in every blended meal has taken a huge amount of pressure off. In a life that already comes with plenty of worries, that's been incredibly reassuring.

How does blended diet work alongside HAN for your family?

Henry has three blended meals each day alongside 330ml of HAN.

I love cooking for Henry and making meals for him is definitely my love language! Breakfast is usually a porridge-style blend with chia and flax seeds, lunch is often a homemade soup, and I get a bit more creative with dinner. He enjoys meals like goulash, 'fish and chips', bolognese, sausage and mash, and even lamb bhuna.

In the past, we've also used HAN as the liquid element in some of his blended meals, such as porridge or soup, to help increase the calorie content while still preparing the meals we wanted to make.

Are there particular times when your family uses HAN more than others?

For our family, HAN is especially helpful when we're travelling, whether that's on long car journeys or flights. It's also really useful on busy days when we're on the move and trying to keep Henry's routine as consistent as possible.

We've generally tried to avoid continuous feeds because I like to mirror Henry's mealtimes with ours and keep his routine feeling as normal as possible. However, after a particularly acute illness in autumn 2025, when Henry was on CPAP to help with his breathing, we relied much more heavily on continuous feeds. He had lost a significant amount of weight, and HAN played an important role in helping him return to his baseline.

How has using HAN alongside a blended diet supported Henry?

Without Henry's morning and overnight top-up feeds, I don't think he would be gaining weight as consistently as he is, and they've made a huge difference, particularly when he's unwell.

For our family, using HAN alongside his blended meals has helped Henry maintain a healthy weight while giving us another way to support his nutritional needs. Because his prescribed feed provides more calories in a smaller volume, he's able to tolerate his feeds more comfortably, which has worked well for him as part of his individual feeding plan.

What would you say to another family who may be using, or considering, a combination of blended diet and HAN?

Every child is different, so I'd always encourage families to speak with their dietitian or healthcare team about the approach that's right for them.

For our family, combining blended meals with HAN has given us the flexibility to cook the meals we love making for Henry while also having the reassurance that he's getting the nutrition and calories he needs to help maintain a healthy weight.

It's an approach that's worked really well for us, particularly during periods when Henry has been unwell, and it's given us confidence that we're able to support him in a way that fits our family's routine.

If you’d like to share your tube feeding journey with us, we’d love to hear from you. Contact talkingtubefeeding@uk.nestle.com.