Enhancing the NICU language environment with a neonatal Cuddler program.

Objective: To compare effects of a language intervention on Cuddler and parent adult word counts (AWC), and to compare Cuddler versus parent and nurse-care times.

Design: Prospective pilot cohort intervention study. Twelve Cuddler-low-visit (≤2/week) infant pairs and 17 high-visit (≥3/week) parent-infant pairs were enrolled. Each had a 16-hour baseline recording (R1) followed by a language curriculum with linguistic feedback and an outcome recording (R2) 1 week later. Bivariate group analyses and longitudinal negative binomial regressions were run.

Results: After the intervention, there were non-significant increases in AWC/h for Cuddlers and high-visit parents. Cuddler AWCs were similar to high-visit parents and significantly higher than nurse-care times on both recordings. Within the low-visit group, hourly AWCs were higher when Cuddlers were present versus absent (R1 = 1779 versus 552, R2 = 2530 versus 534, p < 0.0001).

Conclusions: NICU language environments are different for low-visit and high-visit infants and Cuddlers can increase infant language exposure in the NICU.