700 Children's® – A Blog by Pediatric Experts

Posts About NICU

Posted by: Beth Martin, RN , Jennifer Hofherr on Jan 22, 2026

Learn how skin-to-skin time, pacifier practice, and non-nutritive breast/chest feeding help preterm babies in the NICU develop coordinated sucking, swallowing, and breathing so they can transition from tube feeds to successful oral feeding.

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The Power of Skin-to-Skin Care: Why Kangaroo Care Matters for You and Your Baby
NICU babies, like all babies and all humans for that matter, are very complex; but that’s what makes them so phenomenal. There’s more to them than just their physical being.
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Dear NICU Mom: You Are Finally Going Home
First published November 2013 Updated October 2025 I am a NICU mom. For 175 days, I was a NICU mom. I watched my daughter grow and thrive inside the walls of Nationwide Children’s Hospital. I rode the NICU rollercoaster, with all of its ups and downs, and it was a tumultuous, bumpy ride.

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About this Blog

Pediatric News You Can Use From America’s Largest Pediatric Hospital and Research Center

700 Children’s® features the most current pediatric health care information and research from our pediatric experts – physicians and specialists who have seen it all. Many of them are parents and bring a special understanding to what our patients and families experience. If you have a child – or care for a child – 700 Children’s was created especially for you.

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Latest Posts

Baby

5 Questions Every NICU Parent Should Ask

Sep 12, 2025

Having a baby in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) can be overwhelming and it can take a while to adjust. Here are 5 questions you might find helpful to ask as a NICU parent. Read More

Music Therapy: Sounds of Love in Early Childhood

Jun 27, 2025

Singing to your baby can actually help development. Growing evidence shows that babies whose parents sing, read, or play with them to music have a greater chance of reaching developmental milestones on time. Read More

Hands cradling infant baby

Breastfeeding: Changing the Plan Does Not Mean Failure

Aug 11, 2023

Some new mothers experience their birth plan exactly as expected and nursing comes naturally. Everything is perfect. But, then she goes home and things change. Read More

Two bottles of breastmilk and a pacifier

Breastfeeding in the NICU: How to Solve a Unique Challenge

Aug 10, 2023

Note: We use the term “breastfeeding” to encompass all forms of lactation, including direct breastfeeding, chestfeeding, and providing expressed human milk in a bottle. Read More

Premature Baby

Can a Premature Baby Grow Up to Be a Typical Kid?

Nov 10, 2020

Every preemie who spends time in a NICU is unique and, therefore, their journey home may also continue in a "non-traditional" way. Read More

infant baby being cradled

Babies and Senses: Your Questions Answered

Sep 14, 2020

In honor of her appearance on the Netflix show “Babies,” we collected questions from our community for Dr. Nathalie Maitre, neonatologist and Principal Investigator of Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s Baby Brain Optimization Project (BBOP). Read More

Baby with pigtails

4 Ways to Encourage Motor Development in Baby's First Year

Jul 09, 2020

Within the first year of life, your baby will develop critical motor skills that help them make small movements, hold up their head, sit up-right, crawl and eventually walk. As a caregiver, there are many things you can do to encourage them reach these milestones. Read More

Infant being cradled in hands

Hand Containment: How Gentle Touch Can Calm Your Baby

Jan 16, 2020

Human touch is healing. A warm embrace, a hand to hold and even a gentle touch on the arm can help most of us during times of distress. Holding, and the expression of care and emotional support through touching, are the main ways that infants learn to feel safe and secure. Read More