Preterm babies in the finger feeding group, which constituted the study group, were finger fed by the neonatal intensive care nurse responsible for the baby's care, three times a day for no more than 20 minutes. If babies had breast milk during feedings, breast milk was given first. Formula milk was used when breast milk was not available. The amount of milk that the preterm baby should receive, determined by the neonatal specialist physician, was completed after the planned 20 minutes of feeding time and at other feeding meals during the day, according to the clinic's feeding protocol. In addition, preterm babies have three meals a day; Heart rate, respiration and saturation before and after feeding, and evaluation of feeding duration, amount of feeding and vomiting at the end of feeding were recorded in PBIF. The Preterm Baby Monitoring Form, which was planned to be used at this stage, was filled out by the neonatal intensive care nurse or the researcher.

Preterm babies in the syringe feeding group, which constituted the other study group, were fed with a syringe three times a day for no more than 20 minutes by the neonatal intensive care nurse responsible for the baby's care. If babies had breast milk during feedings, breast milk was given first. Formula milk was used when breast milk was not available. The amount of milk that the preterm baby should receive, determined by the neonatal specialist physician, was completed after the planned 20 minutes of feeding time and at other feeding meals during the day, according to the clinic's feeding protocol. In addition, preterm babies have three meals a day; Heart rate, respiration and saturation before and after feeding, and evaluation of feeding duration, amount of feeding and vomiting at the end of feeding were recorded in PBIF. The Preterm Baby Monitoring Form, which was planned to be used at this stage, was filled out by the neonatal intensive care nurse or the researcher.

feeding method

Mother and Preterm Baby Introductory Information Form (APBTBF): The questionnaire prepared by the researcher in line with the literature includes introductory information about the preterm baby (delivery type, baby's birth date and time, hospitalization date and time, hospitalization diagnosis, gestational age, corrected gestational age, gender). , birth weight, birth length, birth head circumference, weight at the start of the study, birth order, whether the mother was breastfed or not, whether the mother was educated about expressing her milk, discharge weight, date and time of the baby's discharge from the hospital) and descriptive information about the mother (age, education). It consists of 22 questions asking about breastfeeding level, previous breastfeeding experience, breastfeeding duration if breastfeeding, and previous birth to a preterm baby).

Preterm Baby Follow-up Form (PBIF): It is a follow-up form developed by the researcher in line with the literature in order to follow the preterm baby from the moment he starts feeding with an alternative feeding method. In this form, the preterm baby's birth, transition to oral feeding, transition to breastfeeding and discharge dates, as well as information on body weight, head circumference and height at these stages; Information on heart rate (HR), respiratory rate and oxygen saturation (SpO2) values before and after feeding, presence of vomiting after feeding, full oral feeding amounts and feeding durations are included.

Breastfeeding Diagnostic Measurement Tool (LATCH): LATCH was developed by Deborah Jensen and Sheilla Wallace in 1993. The adaptation of the scale into Turkish and its validity and reliability studies were first carried out in a Master's Thesis study by Demirhan and Pek in 1997, but this study was not published. The second validity and reliability study was conducted by Yenal and Okumuş in 2003. In the application of the scale, the mother is observed by a midwife/nurse while breastfeeding, and the form is filled out by evaluating the mother and the baby in line with the criteria. The application time of the scale is 5-10 minutes. While the Cronbah alpha value of the original version of the vehicle was found to be 0.93, it was found to be 0.95 in the Turkish adaptation study. The measurement tool consists of five evaluation items/criteria.