INFANT NONNUTRITIVE SUCKLING

INFANT NONNUTRITIVE SUCKLING

When the LBW infant is being kept on IV fluid or tube feeding, he may be given experience of suckling by providing opportunity to suckle the empty breast. This experience stands him in good stead later at the time of transition to nutritive suckling.

This is a method of exposing a neonate, who is being kept on gavage feeding or intravenous fluids/nutrition for such reasons as prematurity, low birthweight or such illness as birth asphyxia, septicemia, etc to experience of suckling on emptied breast that is expected to stand him in good stead later at the time of transition to nutritive suckling.

Characteristics

Nonnutritive suckling consists of a rhythmic alternation of bursts of rest periods with a mean intersuckling interval of 0.3 to 0.5 second. Nutritive suckling, on the other hand, consists of almost continuous streams of suckles with a mean intersuckling interval of 0.1 second.

Advantages

Nonnutritive suckling influences the neonatal behavior of a preterm baby in the following ways:

1. Restless state is less frequent
2. Behavior distress during a painful procedure is altered
3. Oxygenation, weight gain and gut transit time are increased
4. Nutrient absorption is improved. Intermittent changes in pressure during suckling are necessary to stimulate secretion of the lingual lipase, facilitating fat absorption
5. Transition from gavage to breast becomes easier.
6. Nipple stimulation by repeated suckling results in enhanced milk supply.

An added advantage of nonnutritive suckling is that it provides significant emotional support and satisfaction to the mother who is upset by the high risk status of the infant.

Procedure

Make sure that the procedure is carried out in a reasonably warm room to safeguard against chilling of the infant. Then, mother is asked to express out milk from each breast as much as possible. After this, the baby is allowed to suckle on each breast. The requisite amount of the expressed milk is administrated by tube feeding. Gradually, the infant should be suckling on the emptied breast before each and every gavage feed.

As soon as the infant develops well sustained suckling, start direct breastfeeding. Slowly withdraw all gavage feed and let the infant be entirely on direct breastfeeding.