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Background Heel stick is the most common painful procedure for preterm infants in neonatal intensive care units. Resultant pain causes adverse physiological effects in major organ systems. Kangaroo Care (KC), involving mother-infant skin-to-skin contact is a promising analgesic for infant pain; however, the effect of KC on the autonomic nervous system's response to pain is unknown. Aim To determine if KC results in improved balance in autonomic responses to heel stick pain than the standard method where infants remain in an incubator care (IC) for the heel stick. Study Design A randomized cross-over trial. Subjects Fourteen preterm infants, 30-32 weeks gestational age and less than 9 days postnatal age. Outcome Measures Infant behavioral state, heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV) indices including low frequency (LF) and high frequency (HF) power, and the LF/HF ratio measured over Baseline, Heel Warming, Heel Stick, and Recovery periods in KC and IC conditions. Results HRV differences between KC and IC were that LF was higher in KC at Baseline (p<.01) and at Heel Stick (p< .001), and HF was higher in KC at Baseline than in the IC condition (p< .05). The LF/HF ratio had less fluctuation across the periods in KC than in IC condition and was significantly lower during Recovery in KC than in IC (p< .001). Conclusions Infants experienced better balance in response in KC than IC condition as shown by more autonomic stability during heel stick. KC may be helpful in mediating physiologic response to painful procedures in preterm infants.

The ability of a preterm infant to make the transition from gavage to oral nipple feeding depends on the infant's neurodevelopment in relation to behavioral organization, to a rhythmic suck-swallow-breathe pattern, and to cardiorespiratory regulation. Research-based knowledge about infant neurodevelopment in these three areas has led to the creation of a semidemand feeding method to aid in this transition. The method combines the use of nonnutritive sucking to promote awake behavior for feeding, use of behavioral assessment to identify readiness for feeding, and systematic observation of and response to infant behavior cues to regulate frequency, length, and volume of oral feedings. Semidemand feeding may be individualized for healthy preterm infants. This article discusses both the relevant knowledge about neurodevelopment and the semidemand feeding method itself.