An examination of the association between infant non-nutritive suck and developmental outcomes at 12 months.

Findings from this work complement emerging research linking infant NNS with subsequent neurodevelopmental outcomes. This is the first time that these associations have been examined using a quantitative and physiologic-based measure of NNS. These results seem to indicate that specific NNS metrics, which demonstrate maturation of this complex skill, may be useful predictors of neurodevelopment later in life.