As teams have begun adopting the Eat, Sleep and Console model of care for infants with neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome, the team at Catawba Valley created a tool to both improve parent communication with the healthcare team and aid in their understanding of withdrawal syndrome.
The tool is modeled after a traffic stoplight incorporating the colors of red, yellow and green. Each color corresponds with a set of infant behaviors with red indicating an infant in deep sleep that should not be disturbed to green indicating an infant ready for interaction. The tool is intended to aid parents in interpreting infant behavioral cues and provides suggestions for how to respond to their infant to restore a state of calm.
Additionally, a communication tool is provided for the healthcare team where parents can indicate behaviors they have found soothing to their infant as well as behaviors that were not helpful.
