Singing Pacifiers Enhance Feeding in Preemies, study Finds

When premature babies are made to listen to their mother's lullabies through a pacifier activated music player, they improve their eating habits and are off their feeding tubes  earlier than other premature infants.

Lullabies are the traditional way to soothe newbies to sleep. But a new study has discovered that the lullabies do a little more than lull children to sleep. Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center claim that preemies kept in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) improved their eating habits when their therapy included a pacifier that was tweaked to play the mother' s voice.

The pacifier that played lullabies sung by their moms helped the premature babies to eat sooner and also was effective in getting them off the feeding tubes faster.

This study  was done at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. The researchers conducted a randomized trial in the NICU, where they tested 94 preemies.

They conducted the trial on babies who were 34-36 weeks of postmenstrual age. The made sure the preemies were in a stable condition and could breathe on their own.

The interventional therapy of pairing mother's voice and pacifier activated music player was given to the preemies for 15 minutes a day. This therapy was done for five days in a row. The preemies were rewarded with their mothers' lullaby only if they sucked the pacifier correctly.  The pacifier was a special device that was fitted with sensors, speakers and a pre-recorded clip of their mom singing either 'Hush Little Baby' or 'Snuggle Puppy'. When the baby stopped sucking the pacifier, the music would stop.

These two lullabies were selected because their melodies were simple, repetitive and were within one octave range.

"A mother's voice is a powerful auditory cue," said study author Nathalie Maitre, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of Pediatrics. "Babies know and love their mother's voice. It has proven to be the perfect incentive to help motivate these babies."

The study reveals that babies receiving the pacifier intervention improved their eating habits and had their feeding tubes removed a week earlier than other babies. Also the babies receiving the pacifier intervention ate more frequently and developed a stronger sucking ability. During the pacifier session, the preemies did not display any signs of stress and had shorter hospitalization.

"The benefits are both medical and emotional as this is a unique way for parents to directly help their children learn a skill crucial to their growth and development," Maitre said. "It gives parents a small amount of control to improve their baby's medical course, in addition to giving them a bonding experience which will last throughout childhood."

The finding was reported in the journal Pediatrics.