Cue-based Co-regulated Feeding in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: Supporting Parents in Learning to Feed Their Preterm Infant

Feeding preterm infants may be considered by some a routine task rather than a critical component of neonatal intensive care unit care. The technology of the neonatal intensive care unit, attention to numbers rather than infant behaviors, and nonindividualized ways in which care may be delivered can affect the culture of feeding. The importance of the feeding relationship and the infant's positive learning experiences may get lost in “the numbers” when the parents’ focus is primarily on “emptying the bottle” to get the infant home. The developmental nature of learning to feed may be overshadowed by well-intentioned professional caregivers who describe feeding as a “light bulb phenomenon” (the infant all of a sudden “figures it out” and therefore “knows how to feed”) vs a developmental process that requires carefully titrated support. Providing parents with skills to co-regulate with their infant during feeding can support parent-infant attachment, reduce stress, and improve intake.