Baby's vaccination pain eased in how-to video

Breastfeeding babies or giving them sugar water during vaccinations soothes their pain, a new YouTube video from an Ottawa hospital demonstrates.

Dr. Denise Harrison of the Childrens Hospital of Eastern Ontario has reviewed research on ways to reduce infants' pain during immunizations.

Proven methods include:

• Breastfeeding during the jab.
• Giving a small amount of a sweet solution.
• Holding the baby upright in a face-to-face position.
• Distraction.

CHEOs Be Sweet to Babies research team reviewed 142 YouTube videos of babies receiving injections.

"We noticed almost all of the babies cried before or during their injections, with some crying solidly for over two minutes after the injections," Harrison said in a release. "No videos showed breastfeeding or use of sugar water during the injections and only four babies were held in a front-front position."

This week, the researchers posted their own video showing the pain-relief techniques in practice.

The researchers will monitor online reactions to the video over the next 12 months and check whether the tips are adopted in newly posted videos.