The Dynamic Process of Assessing Infant Feeding Readiness

For many preterm and convalescing infants in the neonatal intensive care unit, often one of the last barriers to going home is being able to successfully feed from the breast or bottle. Parents frequently ask staff: when will my baby be ready to go to breast or start taking a bottle? In the past, the answer was based on the infant's medical condition and age alone. However, this approach to infant feeding readiness is changing and it is now acknowledged as a dynamic and multifactorial process.