Feeding difficulties affect nearly 60% of infants, leaving countless parents struggling to ensure their babies get the nutrition they need. Rebekah Gossom and Michael Detmer, both seasoned neonatal experts, witnessed these challenges firsthand while working in the NICU. Inspired by their experiences and driven by a shared passion for infant development, they embarked on a mission to create a solution.
Thus, LullaFeed™ was born—the world’s first music-powered feeding system. Combining Rebekah's expertise in infant feeding with Michael's background in music therapy, they developed a technology that synchronizes soothing lullabies with feeding patterns. This innovative approach not only helps calm and organize infants but also strengthens the parent-child bond, transforming the feeding journey from a source of stress to a moment of connection and growth. Through LullaFeed™, Rebekah and Michael aim to provide a reliable, nurturing solution that supports both infants and their caregivers in those crucial early stages of life.
We asked Rebekah and Michael a few questions about the journeys, inspirations, and predictions for the future of technology and infant development.
How did you become interested in child development?
Rebekah: I became a Speech-Language Pathologist because of my interest in infant development. As a college student, I worked in the infant room of a Child Development Center where I fed and cared for infants and toddlers. That experience was so intriguing to me that I sought out opportunities to learn more about infants during my master’s education and focused my training on working with pediatric patients at Norton Children’s Hospital as part of my practicum experience. During my time at the Children’s hospital, I worked with a range of infants and young children to assist them with speech and language skills as well as feeding and swallowing abilities. Ultimately, I was hired by the hospital system and have worked within the pediatric departments and NICU in each of their facilities. Over the last 22 years, I have specialized in infant feeding and swallowing and became a Certified Neonatal Therapist (CNT) because working with infants and their families to promote growth and development is my passion. Throughout my professional career and with my own children, as infants and adolescents, I have seen the power of music for calming, organizing, providing a rhythmic basis for function, and as a tool to promote interaction and bonding with parents and caregivers. I’m excited to bring what I have learned through my work and parenting to others by singing and providing music to promote infant development with LullaFeed™.
Michael: I am a board-certified music therapist (MT-BC) with a neonatal specialization, which became an interest of mine during graduate school where I completed a rotation in the neonatal intensive care unit at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, MO. After just the first few patients I worked with, I saw the powerful impact music could have on infants (and their parents!). First, I noticed how it was able to calm and stabilize the infants during sensory input, which oftentimes for premature infants can be challenging due to their immature neurological system. Second, I saw how it allowed the parents to be more intentionally and positively engaged with their infant, encouraging powerful opportunities for early parent-infant bonding, which is often difficult in the NICU environment. Since then, I have been fascinated by how music can be used therapeutically with infants and their parents and have dedicated my clinical and research career to this ensuring infants have the brightest of starts.
What challenges did you identify that drove you to co-found a company to address them?
We created LullaFeed™ to support babies and parents with feeding. Infants can struggle with feeding for a variety of reasons including a history of prematurity, reflux, transitioning from breast to bottle feeding, or anatomical issues. Today parents are left with trial-and-error strategies. They try different bottles, different nipple flow rates, and changing environmental things like lights or sound, but none of these approaches have predictability and it leaves parents frustrated, stressed, and worried that their baby isn’t going to get enough nutrition for their brain and body to grow. Combining our expertise in music therapy and speech therapy/infant feeding, we knew we had a solution that could support these infants and their parents, promoting optimal growth and development while reducing parental stress and anxiety, so they can spend more time enjoying those special moments with their newborn.
I saw the powerful impact music could have on infants (and their parents!). First, I noticed how it was able to calm and stabilize the infants during sensory input, which oftentimes for premature infants can be challenging due to their immature neurological system. Second, I saw how it allowed the parents to be more intentionally and positively engaged with their infant, encouraging powerful opportunities for early parent-infant bonding, which is often difficult in the NICU environment.
Tell us about your team: Who’s on it, and how did you meet?
Michael R. Detmer, MME, MT-BC (NICU-MT), Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Innovative Therapeutix, Inc. is a board-certified music therapist.
Rebekah Gossom, MS, CCC-SLP (CNT), Chief Clinical Officer and Co-Founder is a speech-language pathologist, certified neonatal therapist (CNT), and infant feeding specialist.
We met working side-by-side in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Norton Women’s and Children’s Hospital. We frequently co-treated and coordinated our care with infants and their families due to the compatibility of each of our therapies. For example, Michael would sometimes schedule a patient for a music therapy session to help the infant calm and organize their behavioral state right before Rebekah came in for feeding therapy, with the ultimate goal that the infant would tolerate and successfully complete their oral feeding—leading them one step closer to discharge from the hospital.
Where do you see technology for infant development headed in the future?
We see improved objective, data-based tools for the assessment of infant behavior and development. Today, most assessments are subjective and human-based. With advances in technology and the availability of data, there are increasingly more opportunities for growth in this space, which will lead to improved clinical decision-making and enhanced developmental outcomes of infants.
What does success look like to LullaFeed™in the short term and long term?
In the short term, success is launching to market! With only a few product revisions following our latest round of testing, LullaFeed™ is closer than ever to market. We are currently raising on Wefunder.com/LullaFeed to fund this final phase of product development and go-to-market activity!
Long term success is the development of related products to promote the growth and development of infants! We have learned so much through the development of LullaFeed™ and are eager to start on some exciting future products!
Find out more about LullaFeed™ at lullafeed.com. Are you a startup based in or looking to relocate to Kentucky? Keyhorse’s current quarterly investment cycle is open! Apply now.
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