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Updated: Dec 15, 2025

Author Spotlight: Implications of Non-Nutritive Sucking on Speech Emergence and Infant Development
Published on: April 19, 2024
Changes in infant non-nutritive sucking throughout a suck sample at 3-months of age
Emily Zimmerman1, Thomas Carpenito2, Alaina Martens1
1Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Abstract:
The goal of this study was to compare how infants' non-nutritive suck (NNS) changes throughout a suck sample. Fifty-four full-term infants (57% male) completed this study at, on average, 3.03 (SD .31) months of age. These infants sucked on our custom research pacifier for approximately five minutes. Infants produced, on average, 14.50 suck bursts during the sample. NNS data was pooled across subjects and breakpoint analyses were completed to determine if there were changes in their NNS patterning. Breakpoints were evident for NNS cycles per burst at burst numbers 18 and 34, and for amplitude (cmH20) at burst numbers 18 and 29. No breakpoints were present for NNS frequency. Infants exhibit changes in their suck physiology across burst number. When assessing suck, developmental specialists should observe more than one suck burst to attain a more valid and appropriate scope of the infant's suck ability.
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