--- title: Researchers find that a "spoonful of sugar" can reduce babies' pain caused by injections description: When given a small amount of sugar beforehand, babies are less likely to cry when receiving injections, according to new research published in the May... canonical: https://time.com/archive/7144684/when-tots-need-shots-a-dose-of-sugar-to-dull-the-pain/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2010-05-13T17:31:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-16T11:41:25.756Z article:section: Health og:title: Researchers find that a "spoonful of sugar" can reduce babies' pain caused by injections og:description: When given a small amount of sugar beforehand, babies are less likely to cry when receiving injections, according to new research published in the May... og:url: https://time.com/archive/7144684/when-tots-need-shots-a-dose-of-sugar-to-dull-the-pain/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Researchers find that a "spoonful of sugar" can reduce babies' pain caused by injections twitter:description: When given a small amount of sugar beforehand, babies are less likely to cry when receiving injections, according to new research published in the May... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Health](/section/health/) # When tots need shots, a dose of sugar to dull the pain by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) May 13, 2010 5:31 PM UTC by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) May 13, 2010 5:31 PM UTC  A pediatric nurse prepares to give a one year old baby an injection while the mother holds him. --- Image by © Frank Siteman/Science Faction/Corbis © Frank Siteman/Science Faction/—© Corbis. All Rights Reserved. When given a small amount of sugar beforehand, babies are less likely to cry when receiving injections, according to new research published in the May 12 issue of the _Archives of Disease in Childhood_. A team of researchers from Canada, Australia and Brazil reviewed 14 studies examining how a boost of sugar affected pain experienced by more than 1,600 babies between the ages of 1 month and 1 year. Researchers found that, on average, babies who were given sugar beforehand were 20% less likely to cry out in pain — prompting them to recommend the technique for all babies ages 1 and younger. more According to the recommended vaccination schedule from the Centers for Disease Control, in the first year of life, babies are generally given up to 10 different shots, and parents and pediatricians are likely grateful for any techniques that help reduce their pain. As Dr. Adam Finn, pediatrician at the U.K.’s University of Bristol, [told the BBC](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8678668.stm): --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7144684/when-tots-need-shots-a-dose-of-sugar-to-dull-the-pain/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7144684/when-tots-need-shots-a-dose-of-sugar-to-dull-the-pain/"},"headline":"When tots need shots, a dose of sugar to dull the pain","datePublished":"2010-05-13T17:31:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-16T11:41:25.756Z","description":"When given a small amount of sugar beforehand, babies are less likely to cry when receiving injections, according to new research published in the May...","url":"https://time.com/archive/7144684/when-tots-need-shots-a-dose-of-sugar-to-dull-the-pain/","keywords":["Babies","Sugar"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/7144684/when-tots-need-shots-a-dose-of-sugar-to-dull-the-pain/","name":"When tots need shots, a dose of sugar to dull the pain"}}]}] ```