A Spoonful of Sugar May Ease the Pain

Giving infants a small amount of sugar water before administering a vaccination may help to reduce the distress caused by the shot. A total of 107 babies attending a clinic in Adelaide, South Australia for their routine immunizations were given either sugar water or plain water immediately before receiving an injection in both legs. The procedure was videotaped. The infants drinking the sugar water showed a significantly shorter crying time than those who were given plain water. The facial expressions of the infants were assessed by both a nurse practitioner and a parent, and neither knew which drink the baby had been given. Both perceived those babies given the sugar water to be less upset by the procedure, although only the nurse's observations were considered statistically significant. The taste of sugar has been shown in laboratory settings to stimulate natural pain-reducing substances in the infant brain. This may be a simple method of reducing the distress of necessary vaccinations, and could help to encourage parents to have their infants immunized on schedule.

What This Means to You: The small amount of sugar water used in this study and the infrequency with which it would be used should not pose any health hazard to your baby. This seems to be a safe and possibly effective method to ease the discomfort of infant injections. Discuss this information with your infant's doctor. Remember never to give honey to infants under 1 year of age due to the risk of infant botulism.

Source: Archives of Disease in Childhood, May 1998