title: Neonatal sucking and maternal feeding practices.
abstract: This study is the first to demonstrate an association between neonatal and later sucking ability, clinical signs of feeding ability and maternal feeding practices. Of 49 infants followed to a mean age of six weeks, 20 had some feeding problems (compensatory group), based on changes in feeding practices by their mothers, and 29 did not (non-compensatory group). Infants in the compensatory group performed less well on initial and follow-up sucking measures than infants in the non-compensatory group, indicating that they were feeding less efficiently from birth. Also, infants in the compensatory group ingested less during follow-up testing and were reported to be fed more frequently at home by their mothers than infants in the non-compensatory group. These findings strongly suggest that even among healthy infants, there may be more with problematic feeding abilities than have been previously recognized and that mothers are a reliable source of information about their infants' feeding abilities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Montreal Children's Hospital, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ramsay
authors.forename: E G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Gisel
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D001903:Bottle Feeding; D001942:Breast Feeding; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D013391:Sucking Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires