BLOG: Successful Pain Relief for Babies Using Sugar Water

By Nicole Stevens

Who would have thought that Mary Poppins was a medical visionary? That "spoon full of sugar" notion may actually have some physiological merit, and not just in making bitter medicine more palatable. A recent review article looks at studies using sugar water for pain relief in infants. Sweet solutions apparently have soothing and pain killing effects for babies during uncomfortable procedures.

Dr. Denise Harrison and colleagues published an article in the journal Pediatrics that combines the findings of more than 150 studies on the use of sugar solutions in pediatric care. The evidence shows that during procedures like circumcision, blood collection, and injections, small doses of oral sucrose reduced agitated responses in newborns. Researchers see less crying, better oxygen saturation, and a steadier heart rate in children who are given sugar water right before painful situations.

Now, this isn't to say that parents should go out and start dosing their babies with sugar water for every ailment. There aren't yet established standards for this method of pain management, even in hospitals and care centers where it's used most commonly. Parents should always work carefully with medical professionals when it comes to treating their children. But the ideas presented in this paper are intriguing.

The authors admit that there are gaps in our knowledge of how these sweet solutions work. It is thought that sugar water may have both analgesic (pain-relieving) and calming properties for newborns. These effects may dwindle as the baby matures due to rapid changes in the central nervous system during the first year of life. But early on, sugar solutions have been widely used because they have no known side effects compared to analgesics like ibuprofen or acetaminophen. They also produce no sedation and pose no danger of overdose.

The article also discusses how administering sugar solutions works even better when combined with other comforting strategies like non-nutritive sucking, kangaroo care, breastfeeding, and distraction. The authors conclude that the evidence collected over the past 25 years of research is indisputable: sucrose significantly reduces babies' responses to pain.

I love the idea of a drug-free method to help relieve my baby's suffering. During those difficult early moments when my kids receive shots or struggle with teething or have their heels lanced for blood collection — it's heartbreaking to hear them cry. But I hesitate to break out the Tylenol and introduce drugs into their developing systems. Especially in repeated doses for something like an ear infection. Sure, those OTC pain relievers have been on the market for decades, but are they truly safe for newborns?

Perhaps more pediatricians and health care workers will refine the practice of giving sugar water solutions for pediatric pain relief, and pass along that knowledge to parents. It's just one simple way to make those babyhood "owies" a little sweeter.

Have you ever used sugar water to soothe your infant's pain? Would you try it under a pediatrician's care? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.