I have never had a tube with a clamp and never needed one so am puzzled by the idea of kinking or clamping the tube for syringe feedings. Do stomach contents come up and out the tube when it is open? All I get is the release of air from my stomach -- a burp! If your tube is really long, not the standard 5 or 6 inches, I suppose it could leak since it would be harder to to keep it elevated. In my 12 years with a feeding tube and in my years as a nurse, I have never been instructed to clamp or kink a tube during a syringe feeding. Clamps are used to slow feedings given slowly from an elevated bag. Perhaps you were told that it was necessary to clamp the tube to keep air out of the stomach. The open tube will not suck air in. Pressure is higher in your stomach than outside so any air flow is out, not in. Any air that gets in the tube while it is uncapped will go into your stomach when the formula is put in on top of it, but unless, and even if, you have a long tube, the amount of air is minimal. If you let a syringe empty completely before adding more formula, you will get a few more cc's of air in. Even so, it is harmless. We swallow some air when we talk, eat, and drink. Drinking through a straw gives you a straw full of air with every sip and no one ever died from that. Even my Intensive care patients didn't need to be protected from air with feedings! Sounds to me like someone is equating air through a feeding tube with air through an IV! But maybe I am missing some simple, practical use for kinking or clamping a tube. Goodness knows I have missed the obvious before!