Comparison of the Effects of Oral Stimulation and Non-nutritive Sucking Practices on the Transition to Full Oral Feeding in Infants With a Gestational Age of 26-32 Weeks

This study, it was aimed to compare the effects of oral stimulation and non-nutritive sucking practices on the transition to full oral feeding in babies with a gestational age of 26-32 weeks. Non-oral feeding methods are frequently used in babies born prematurely since sucking and sucking-swallowing coordination have not yet developed. While some premature babies gain the sucking and swallowing reflexes faster, some of them cannot develop this reflex for a long time, so the length of hospital stay is prolonged. All infants who can be fed completely enterally (PMA >29 weeks) will be randomized into 4 groups as oral stimulation (group 1), pacifier (group 2), oral stimulation + pacifier (group 3), and control group by using a stratified blocked randomization method with a block size of 4. Stratification on GA (26-27, 28-29, 30-32 weeks GA) was used to ensure that the groups had similar gestational age distribution. The time of the patients to start breastfeeding and the length of hospital stay (days) will be compared.