Thanks to Mary Poppins, we all know that sugar helps the medicine go down. However, it also seems that sugar can stop babies in all in one suits crying when they receive vaccinations.

A study funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Knowledge Synthesis has found that giving infants glucose or sucrose solutions before they get their jabs can reduce pain levels and stop them from crying, Dentistry.co.uk reports.

In fact, sugar solutions decreased crying in 92 per cent of cases. Babies aged between one and 12 months were most likely to respond to the treatment, which could be good news for mums and their little ones.

"Healthcare professionals responsible for administering immunisations should consider using sucrose or glucose during painful procedures," the study concluded.

Vaccinations begin when a baby is two months old, as this is when natural immunity passed on from the mother begins to decrease. Once the schedule is completed, children have lifelong protection against some of the most deadly childhood diseases.

Posted by Ed Salters

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