The Pacifier Activated Lullaby (PAL®) is a device that enhances the care babies receive in the NICU, while simultaneously giving them comfort and pleasure. But PAL® isn’t just good for the babies – it’s good for their caregivers, as well. NICU infants’ responses to the PAL® have been called “amazing,” and the decreased stress and improved behavioral control they experience can help NICU staff and parents alike provide the best care possible for these hurting babies.

PAL® stimulates non-nutritive sucking and the breathe-suck-swallow reflex through the use of music therapy.

Non-nutritive sucking is an essential life skill for infants – without this skill, babies do not know how to feed, and thus their survival is significantly compromised. But premature infants come into the world too soon to achieve this major developmental milestone. The development of non-nutritive sucking begins at for fetuses at 28 weeks, but continues to develop through weeks 32 to 34. When babies are born pre-term, this development is abruptly stopped. The survival of premature babies relies upon them being taught how to suck productively and develop the breathe-suck-swallow reflex outside of the womb.

PAL® is critical in overcoming this challenge. Capitalizing on a baby’s natural appetite for music, the PAL® uses lullaby therapy to stimulate non-nutritive sucking.

Preemies who use PAL® experience:

•    Earlier transition to oral feeding
•    More rapid weight gain
•    Reductions in hospital length of stay
•    Improved behavioral state control
•    Decreased stress
•    Enhanced maturation of neural systems