Effect of position during bottle feeding on physiological stability in preterm infants

Infants born preterm often require tube until they can suck all feeds. Some preterm infants will receive bottle feeds before transitioning to full breast feeding. In this trial we wanted to find out if the position during bottle suck feeds affected infants breathing, heart rate and oxygen saturation. We compared two bottle feeding positions, the traditional cradle-hold versus side-lying. We studied infants who were less than 34 weeks’ gestation at birth and were at least 34 weeks’ postmenstrual age at the time of the study. Infants were receiving at least two sucking feeds/day. Two feeds were studied on successive days. A pulse oximeter measured oxygen saturation (SpO2) and heart rate (HR) before, during and 30 min after feeds. Twenty-five study infants completed the study. There was little difference in infants’ breathing, heart HR or SpO2 between the two bottle feeding positions. Both methods may be appropriate for the transition from gastric tube to sucking feeds in preterm infants.