Therapeutic handling techniques for the infant affected by cocaine

The effects of maternal cocaine abuse can be manifested in infants as physiologic, psychologic, cognitive, and developmental deficits. The effects of cocaine disrupt the sleep and wake cycles, which may cause the infant to be difficult to handle or unresponsive to parents or caregivers. Assessments of sleep/wake states and interventions to aid these infants are described. Cocaine-affected infants can also present with hypertonic or hypotonic muscle tone disorders. Interventions to improve muscle tone are included in the discussion.