New Guidance to Support Safe, Infant-Directed Feeding in the NICU 

Feeding isn’t one-size-fits-all. Every infant shows you something different, and knowing how to read those cues can make all the difference in how feeding progresses. The 2nd edition of “Infant-Directed Oral Feeding for Premature and Critically Ill Hospitalized Infants: Guidelines for Practice” is here, bringing together the latest evidence to equip neonatal care teams with actionable strategies to assess readiness, advance feeding skills, and provide safe, infant-centered care.  

It also helps teams:  

• Create more consistent feeding practices across care settings  

• Improve coordination of suck–swallow–breathe  

• Document feeding readiness and progression more clearly  

• Partner more intentionally with caregivers throughout the process  

Explore the updated guidelines on iLearn. 

This publication was developed in part with the support of a generous grant from Dr. Brown’s Medical.

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