Nidhi Mody
Research Mentor: Amanda Crandall
Mentor Department: Pediatrics, Medicine
Author(s): Not Available
Session: Session 4 (1:00 PM – 1:50 PM)
Presentation Type: Poster 93
Abstract
This work is conducted in the CHOMP (Childhood Health: Origins in Mealtime and Play) Laboratory in the Division of Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics under the direction of Dr. Amanda Crandall. The CHOMP laboratory seeks to identify modifiable risk factors for chronic disease early in the lifespan to inform targeted and tailored intervention strategies. Although breastfeeding is the gold standard of infant feeding, more than 80% of breastfeeding mothers also make use of bottles to feed their infants, highlighting the importance of understanding the dynamics of bottle feeding. The feeding efficiency and flow rate of bottle nipples of infants is influenced by bottle nipple design. However, few studies have examined how full-term infants respond to changes in bottle nipple flow rate. This project aims to address this gap by examining the differences in sucking smoothness, an indicator of feeding effort and muscle coordination, between typical and slower flow bottle nipples. The study analyzed data from a large observational cohort examining the development of infant bottle eating behavior from birth to 12 months of age. Infant sucking behavior during bottle feedings was recorded using a smart bottle to capture the timing and regularity of sucking cycles. Feeding sessions using different nipple types were measured and will be analyzed. We hypothesize that nipples with a slower flow rate will result in a decrease in sucking smoothness due to the increased muscular demands of the slower flow nipple. The analysis of this data will help us understand how infants respond to different bottle nipple sizes, which may help create evidence based recommendations for bottle feeding practices.
