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The early impact of feeding on infant breathing-swallowing coordination

Bronwen N Kelly1, Maggie-Lee Huckabee, Richard D Jones

  • 1Van der Veer Institute for Parkinson's and Brain Research, Christchurch, New Zealand. bmk21@student.canterbury.ac.nz

Respiratory Physiology & Neurobiology
|November 15, 2006
PubMed

Insights

Infant feeding coordination between breathing and swallowing shows a critical developmental period. This breathing-swallowing coordination changes significantly from birth to 2 months, impacting infants with feeding or respiratory issues.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Pediatrics
  • Neuroscience
  • Speech and Language Pathology

Background:

  • Coordinated breathing and swallowing is crucial for safe and efficient infant feeding.
  • Understanding the developmental trajectory of this coordination is essential for identifying potential feeding disorders.
  • Previous research has not fully elucidated the temporal dynamics of breathing-swallowing coordination in healthy infants.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To longitudinally assess the coordination of nutritive and non-nutritive swallowing with breathing in healthy term infants from birth to one year.
  • To identify developmental changes and potential critical periods in breathing-swallowing coordination.
  • To provide a baseline for comparison with infants experiencing feeding or respiratory challenges.

Main Methods:

  • A longitudinal study involving 10 healthy term infants.
  • Assessment of swallowing events in relation to respiratory phases (mid-inspiration, mid-expiration, cusp, pause) from birth to 12 months.
  • Classification of swallows into five distinct respiratory-phase categories.

Main Results:

  • Breathing-swallowing coordination differed significantly between nutritive and non-nutritive swallowing, particularly between 2 weeks and 2 months of age.
  • Significant condition effects were observed in four respiratory-phase categories: mid-inspiration, inspiratory-expiratory cusp, expiratory-inspiratory cusp, and mid-pause.
  • By 9 months, the influence of swallowing condition on coordination diminished, with only the inspiratory-expiratory cusp proportion showing a difference.

Conclusions:

  • A 'critical period' for infantile neural response to oropharyngeal stimulation during feeding exists, primarily in the early months of life.
  • The findings highlight the dynamic nature of breathing-swallowing coordination development.
  • Further investigation into the impact of these early coordination patterns on infants with neurological and/or respiratory disorders is warranted.

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