Baby Getting A Vaccine? Cuddles And Hugs Can Ease The Pain

How do we comfort our babies after they get a shot or a blood test jab? Some of us give them few grains of sugar, while others may resort to distraction. Few others might even breastfeed to comfort their babies. But according to a recent study, these pain relief methods may work better if the baby is getting cuddled by her/his  mother.

Researchers randomly assigned different pain relief methods to 80 three-day-old infants getting a needle stick in their heel (for blood tests). The four types of pain relief assigned were: sugar water while they were on a changing table; pumped breast milk while they were on a changing table; sugar water while they were held by their mothers; or breast milk directly from their mothers.

They then observed the babies for expressions of pain. The also monitored the babies’ oxygen levels in the brain using a non-invasive device. The different oxygen levels were indicative of the brain areas activated by pain as the effect of the different types of pain relief.

The results showed that whenever the baby was in close contact with the mother, the endurance to pain appeared to be better.

Senior study author Dr. Sergio Demarini of the Institute for Maternal and Child Health at IRCCS Burlo Garofolo in Trieste, Italy said, “Clinically, a mother’s lap, in combination with either glucose or breastfeeding, provided better analgesia than expressed breast milk and glucose alone.”

According to him, the combination works better in providing  pain relief as they have different action mechanism.

So it is clear that providing the child with sugar or breastmilk while holding him/her works as a better analgesic than by providing comfort without body contact. So hug or breastfeed your child directly after their jabs. It will make things peaceful for everyone.

Disclaimer: Information has been sourced from jpost

Also read: All You Need To Know About Babywearing And Ergonomic Carriers

Explore the entire collection of articles: Baby Care

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