Researchers from The Hospital for Sick Children, in Toronto, Canada reviewed the evidence for giving sweet solutions to infants before immunization.

First, the details.

• 14 studies with 1674 injections met the inclusion criteria.

And, the results.

• Sucrose or glucose decreased crying during or following immunization compared to water or no treatment in 13 of 14 studies.
• Infants receiving 30% glucose had a decreased relative risk of crying following immunization.
• With sucrose or glucose, there was a 10% reduction in proportion of crying time and a 12 second reduction in crying duration.
• An optimal dose of sucrose or glucose could not be ascertained due to the varied volumes and concentrations used.

The bottom line?

Giving sucrose or glucose solutions before immunization has a moderate benefit on the incidence and duration of crying.

It’s probably not necessary for all infants, but might be considered in babies who are particularly averse to being stuck with a needle.

5/24/10 16:11 JR