Join our Research Study on Infant Feeding (0-3 month old)!

Infant Feeding Study at Boston Children’s Hospital

If interested, please contact Eleonora.Tamilia@childrens.harvard.edu or fill out this form

NOTE: We are currently enrolling babies who are 0-3 months old.

Study Overview:

If you decide to join the research study, we will monitor your infant’s sucking activity while they feed from their regular bottle. We will measure the activity of the facial muscles by placing small, flexible EMG (electromyography) sensors on the skin around your baby’s mouth and cheeks. These sensors are similar to those used in routine clinical tests for heart rate and respiratory rate.

The EMG recording session will last as long as the baby will need to feed and will take place at the MEG laboratory at Boston Children’s Hospital (300 Longwood Ave, Boston).

Prior to the recording, we will go over the consent form to answer any questions you may have and then proceed with the experiment set-up (placing sensors). Consent plus set-up may take between 10 to 20 minutes.

As a token of appreciation for your participation, you will receive a $100 Amazon gift card*, along with parking reimbursement (4-hour parking at 333 Longwood Ave).

[*If the study visit cannot be completed (for instance, the baby refuses to feed for at least 5 minutes or cannot tolerate the sensors), you will receive a $25 Amazon gift card]

Risks:

There are no significant known risks associated with placing the EMG electrodes on your baby’s face. These electrodes are commonly used in clinical and research settings, and your baby may have already experienced them for heart rate or respiratory monitoring. In rare cases, the electrodes may cause skin irritation (redness), but if this occurs, we would stop using them. The recordings can also be stopped at any time if your baby shows any sign of distress, or if you or the study team request it.

Benefits:

While there are no direct benefits for your baby, this study may help improve our understanding of infant feeding behavior. The results could lead to more reliable methods for assessing and monitoring feeding issues in infants, potentially allowing for earlier intervention when feeding problems are detected.

 

 

Eligibility:

Babies who meet the following criteria may be eligible for participation:

  • Feeding regularly on a bottle
  • Born at term (full-term)
  • No history of medical complications during or after birth
  • No admission to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
  • No signs of feeding difficulties

Purpose of the Study:

By studying how infants feed during their first month of life, we hope to develop better ways of identifying early feeding difficulties. Using non-invasive EMG sensors to monitor facial muscle activity during sucking may allow us to assess feeding ability and predict developmental outcomes over time. This innovative approach could provide valuable insights for the clinical and research communities.

Study Team:

The study is being conducted at Boston Children’s Hospital under the leadership of Dr. Eleonora Tamilia (PhD), Principal Investigator, and Dr. Sarah Morton (MD PhD), a neonatologist and co-investigator.