Comparison of Sucking in Premature Infants and Infants With Pierre Robin Sequence

The NUTROBIN study aims to analyze sucking in two populations of vulnerable children who require intensive and prolonged care, and whose treatment has an impact on the subsequent development of oral function. This development has a significant impact on the overall psychomotor development. * Prematurity and oral function Very premature birth, before 29 weeks is associated with significant neonatal morbiditywhich interferes with the development of oral competencies. The coordination of sucking, swallowing, and breathing, which is necessary for oral feeding, commonly matures after 34 weeks postconceptional age (Quetin 2015). During the first weeks of life, the oral sphere of these babies is both under-stimulated due to the enteral feeding via a fed via a gastric tube, and negatively stimulated due to fixation of the tube on the perioral area together with regular necessary tube changes. The more premature an infant is, the more significant these disturbances are, delaying the acquisition of feeding autonomy (Lau 2020), which is essential for discharge from the hospital. Positive oral stimulation, such as non-nutritive sucking (pacifier), and perioral stimulation can support the development of oral feeding in these vulnerable infants. Many questions remain regarding the development of sucking in premature infants, as there are few tools available to analyse it accurately. * NUTRIO study in premature infants This is a prospective, single-centre, RIPH 3 non-health product study. It was set up in the Croix Rousse neonatal unit, in collaboration with Prof. Luc Marlier, CNRS Strasbourg, who developed a succiometre. The objective is to measure sucking parameters and describe their evolution in a population of extremely premature infants whose daily care includes an oral stimulation program. Enrolment in the NUTRIO study began in January 2025 and is currently ongoing. Ten infants have been enrolled, and a total of 30 are expected to be included. * The DYSROBIN study in infan