When a baby is born premature, it receives nutrition through a tube for the first few weeks. At about 34 weeks, it is ready and strong enough to start learning to drink. To see if the baby is ready for this and if drinking is going well, the Early Feeding Skills checklist is used. This way the baby learns to drink at the time he or she is really ready.

This Divi explains to parents of premature babies how this process works and exactly what caregivers look for with the checklist.