Weaning of moderately preterm infants from the incubator to the crib: A randomized clinical trial

Objective To assess whether length of hospital stay is decreased among moderately preterm infants weaned from incubator to crib at a lower vs higher weight. Study design This trial was conducted in the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Neonatal Research Network. Infants with gestational ages 29-33 weeks, birthweight Results Of 1565 infants screened, 885 were eligible, and 366 enrolled—187 to the 1600-g and 179 to the 1800-g group. Maternal and neonatal characteristics did not differ among weight groups. Length of hospital stay was a median of 43 days in the lower and 41 days in the higher weight group ( P  = .12). Growth velocity from completion of weaning to discharge was higher in the lower weight group, 13.7 g/kg/day vs 12.8 g/kg/day ( P  = .005). Groups did not differ in adverse events. Conclusions Among moderately preterm neonates, weaning from incubator to crib at a lower weight did not decrease length of stay, but was safe and was accompanied by higher weight gain after weaning. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov : NCT02160002 .