Pam, we also use SweetEase in our hospital.  Like you, I never have seen a
correlation between poor feeding and the use of such.  And yes, we also use
heel warmers.  I try to capture my infants (many of whom are premature)
while they are still asleep... I gently expose a foot, apply a heel warmer
and give them one dip of SweetEase a couple of minutes prior.  They are
swaddled well and they almost NEVER cry when I do it this way... and eat
just fine afterward.  If mother is present, I usually suggest that she
breastfeed.  I have done PKUs, other labs, and immunizations during
breastfeeding with great success.  I actually LIKE it when mothers
breastfeed while I do labwork.  I find that they are in a natural position
to allow great bloodflow to the foot.  And of course they typically remain
very calm.

As a piece of anecdotal side information....  We have a nurse on the unit
who was concerned about the amount of SweetEase these kids actually get.  So
she did a little exeriment on her own... dipped a pacifier into the
SweetEase and then tapped the solution from the pacifier into a medicine
cup.  She said it took a little more than 30 dips to equate 1cc.  So if they
are only getting one or two dips, they are not getting much.  (I'm not
suggesting that one or two dips isn't a problem, just that it's a very, very
minute amount.)

Christina Harris, RN
Seattle, WA

On 3/2/07, Pam Hirsch, BSN,RN,IBCLC <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Brenda and Rachel:  We use SweetEase and a pacifier for our newborn pain
> relief.  A couple of our young female lab techs are comfortable doing a
> heel
> stick with the baby at the breast.  They also use heel warmers.  The only
> time
> I see a baby zone out for several hours after receiving SweetEase is after
> a
> circ.
>

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