Effect of taste and temperature on neonatal sucking behaviour.

The sucking behaviour of 10 healthy newborns was studied while feeding them with milk of different types (V formula and EBM) and temperature (23.5 degrees C and 37.5 degrees C) on the 4th, 5th, and 6th days of life. Total feeding time, duration and number of intervals, frequency and pressure were analysed from 120 sucking patterns. The babies did not alter their sucking behaviour on feeding with different milks, but they reacted to the different temperature in one of three trials.