I help out in the NICU on the weekends and something that has always intrigued me is the use of sucrose to sooth infants. Over 150 studies have been conducted on this subject. The first mention of using sweets to sooth an infant was back in 632AD; when a prophet named Mohammed suggested to give a child a pre-chewed date. Most studies have concluded that sucrose or other sweet substances are effective to sooth a baby up to 12 months of age. The reason being that there is a natural connection between a humans taste buds and opid receptors in the brain. A comprehensive review of 44 RCT's showed that sucrose did reduce signs of physical pain such as cry duration and facial expression. Heart rate also seemed to stay lower then if no sucrose was given to the babies tested in the majority of studies. The normal dosage for a pediatric patient is to administer 25% sucrose solution 2 minutes prior to procedure/ movement on top of the tongue . The effect is short lasting only 4-6 minutes and works best if it is something not overly painful. In newborns it has showed to cut crying time by a little over 2 hours a day when given twice a day. Such procedures include venipuncture and diaper change. It is sometimes also administered to sooth a fussy baby in hopes that they will relax enough to fall asleep. No studies have been conducted on whether or not this method sets a child up to crave sweets when they become anxious as they get older. This is something that I feel is important to discover in the years to come.
http://apps.who.int/rhl/newborn/cd001069_murkis_com/en/
http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/PedPainGroup/OralSucrose.pdf
https://www.nichd.nih.gov/cochrane_data/yamadaj_01/yamadaj_01.html
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/130/5/918
http://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/588971
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