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Eating as a neurodevelopmental process for high-risk newborns

Joy V Browne1, Erin Sundseth Ross

  • 1JFK Partners Center for Family and Infant Interaction, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, 13121 East 19th Avenue, Aurora, CO USA. Joy.Browne@childrenscolorado.org

Clinics in Perinatology
|November 24, 2011
PubMed

Insights

High-risk and preterm infants often struggle with feeding and growth due to hospitalization challenges. Successful infant feeding is a neurodevelopmental process requiring regulation of physiological and motor functions.

Area of Science:

  • Neonatal development
  • Infant feeding disorders
  • Neurodevelopmental pediatrics

Background:

  • High-risk and preterm infants frequently experience feeding difficulties in neonatal intensive care units and post-discharge.
  • Hospitalization introduces environmental, procedural, and medical challenges impacting infant feeding skill development.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the neurodevelopmental underpinnings of infant feeding.
  • To identify factors contributing to feeding challenges in high-risk and preterm infants.

Main Methods:

  • Review of emerging data on infant feeding as a neurodevelopmental process.
  • Analysis of factors influencing the organization of physiological processes, motor control, and arousal in infants.

Main Results:

  • Infant feeding is increasingly recognized as a predictable neurodevelopmental process.
  • Successful feeding relies on the infant's ability to integrate and regulate physiological functions, motor skills, and arousal states.

Conclusions:

  • Understanding feeding as a neurodevelopmental process is crucial for addressing challenges in high-risk and preterm infants.
  • Interventions should consider the infant's overall organization and regulation of systems for optimal feeding development.

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