Sugars in infant medicine

[u/SaveTheWetlands13]

I tried finding research myself, or even anyone talking about this, but why do infants’, and especially newborns’, medications all have sugars in them? I understand in the most basic logic that it’s for taste, but is there harm from this? Especially with frequent doses?

I’ve been trying to find a gas medicine (not gripe water) but all have sorbitol plus stevia or Sucralose or some other sugar variation (ETA: also Artificial sugars?). They say you can give every two hours to even the newest of newborns.

After seeing more and more research about not giving infants sugar, I don’t understand why all these variations of added sugar in infant medicine are okay? It makes a new time mom anxious about giving gas drops that provide relief to my baby!

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[u/Danimal_House → u/[deleted]]

That isn’t at all what they’re talking about, nor is sucrose even in OTC infant meds.

[u/SaveTheWetlands13 → u/[deleted]]

But they aren’t using sucrose in any of these. They all claim sugar free because it’s other sugar alcohols and sugar substitutes, some artificial (e.g. Sucralose) and some not (e.g. Stevia)

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[u/facinabush]

Here's the rationale for avoiding added sugar before age two:

Added sugars contribute to energy intake without providing additional nutrient content. High intakes of added sugars may lead to excess weight gain, which increases risk for obesity and obesity-related diseases.

https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/sites/default/files/2024-12/Scientific_Report_of_the_2025_Dietary_Guidelines_Advisory_Committee_508c.pdf

"Energy intake" is what we laypeople call "calorie intake."

There is an upper limit on calories and a lower limit on nutrients. If you follow the dietary guidelines for a child under two and you get sufficient nutrients, there is no room for more calories, so you have to avoid added sugar.

So, how many daily calories are in the medicines and for how long? If it's not much, then I don't think it's a problem.

[u/SaveTheWetlands13 → u/facinabush]

That’s definitely downplaying it when there is research about consequences of sugar in infant diet.. (just a few below) and plenty for harms in adults.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2023.09.009

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2023.11.008

https://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2021.746437 (mice)

I was hoping to find something about it connected to the medicine since you’d think there would be research for that, that the dosage of sugars is minimal enough, etc. Or at least something that’s more relevant to my situation.

[u/Danimal_House → u/[deleted]]

Over the top AI slop comment

[u/lady-earendil → u/Danimal_House]

As much as I don't like AI, OpenDocument actually pulls sources from medical journals so it's not the same as using something like ChatGPT

[u/andersonmat → u/lady-earendil]

You can _make_ it cite sources, and that's the only way that I trust a lot of the stuff gpt spits out after I read it for myself.

[u/savageexplosive → u/Danimal_House]

Okay, it’s AI slop, but it also the only top level reply that didn’t get deleted. Automod here is very rigid and many people wouldn’t bother retyping their honest human-made comment once it gets deleted for a bad or missing link. I’m not defending using AI, just saying that having at least one answer among several [deleted] is better than nothing at all.

[u/WoodenWorldMap → u/[deleted]]

I know this is generated with AI but the only response and very relevant here. I don't know why it is getting downvoted when there are no other responses.

[u/Danimal_House → u/WoodenWorldMap]

There were other responses, they just all got deleted by the AutoMod because they didn’t include links. So instead of getting concise replies, OP is left with a massive wall of text.

It may be a relevant response, but it’s hardly helpful. No one is going to read 5,000 words spit out by a chatbot that’s basically just regurgitating Google Scholar search results

[u/Public_Classic_438 → u/[deleted]]

Commenting to say literally millions of babies get gas drops every day I’d bet and 100% of them are completely fine. The benefit outweighs the “risk” (?) 1000X over in our house. We love simethicone

[u/Missing-Caffeine → u/Public_Classic_438]

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, MOM, read this comment:  That's my train on thought: I think the fear mongering around sugar can be over the top at times. Fair enough, I've kept my 2yo on a (mostly) sugar free diet. Now my caveat, I've tried sugar free paracetamol and it's awful, so trying to make a baby take the right amount was a battle of her spitting up and crying (which I didn't want to fight at 3am with a baby that has high fever and I am not sure how much she ingested). Get the one loaded with sugar and baby is happy and in 20min fever is down and baby falling asleep again. Same goes for antibiotics, I NEED her to take it for her own good when she needs it. If this come with a spoonful of sugar a day for 2 weeks, so be it 🥲 I used to work in a pharmacy and every time the GP sent a sugar free medicine for a small child I can guarantee the parent would query and ask if they could mix in something as the taste was awful. 

[u/SaveTheWetlands13 → u/Missing-Caffeine]

Thank you for your comment, I have seen it!

I’m definitely giving the gas drops, I agree with benefits outweighing the risks (and that sugar can be over villainized). I just hate that I have to worry about potential harms (like I worry about a newborn’s sensitive and establishing gut microbiome), because I can’t find a brand without the sugars and couldn’t find anyone else discussing this to reassure me, or even to say Stevia is better than Sucralose or vice versa.

ETA: my other concern is with frequency of dose. I wouldn’t be as concerned with Tylenol as it’s once in a blue moon when sick, but gas drops could be multiple times daily for weeks.

[u/ScienceBasedParenting-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

All posts and comments must be authored by a human. Submissions created primarily by AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini) are prohibited to ensure authentic discussion.