Development of suck and swallow.

This short selective review has been assembled for the purpose of demonstrating that there are regular patterns of development of sucking and swallowing in infancy and that there are a number of factors which can effect these functions. An awareness that the non-nutritive sucking of a premature infant of approximately 34 weeks does not suggest that patient will have an effective nutritive suck should prompt one to quickly initiate gavage feeding because one can expect adequate motility along the distal to the swallowing mechanism. Knowledge of the normal feeding rate should refrain one from prolonged feeding efforts in infants, especially if they have respiratory problems. Any sucking beyond 20 minutes is likely to be non-nutritive. In a similar manner, excessive and prolonged withholding of solid foods in children may lead to difficulties in handling these foods when they are finally introduced.