 Successful transition to full oral feeding in preterm infants is important for safe discharge from hospital and for facilitating the mother-infant bond. Preterm infants were evaluated weekly for sucking and swallowing performance i.e., feeding performance from the time they began oral feeding frequency 1-2 oral feedingsday until they reached independent oral feeding frequency 8 oral feedingsday at postmenstrual 38-40 weeks. For the term infants, we evaluated a single oral feeding during the first week of life. 