Distraction is an important method for reducing a toddler’s anxiety and perception of pain during medical procedures. Distraction is an active approach to handling the anxiety and pain of the child.
It is defined as “the direction of attention to a nonnoxious event or stimulus in the immediate environment”, according to Fernandez (as cited in Carlson, Broome & Vessey, 2000). Distraction provides competing stimuli to target cells in the paramedial ascending system have wide receptive fields and are susceptible to sensory stimulation, other than the pain stimuli, that can compete for a child’s attention (Broome, Rehwaldt & Fogg, 1998).
Distraction is more suitable to the developmental stage of toddlers because of their concrete view of the world and their short attention spans. It would be considerably harder to attempt to relax a toddler when in a strange environment with strange smells, noises and people. The action in the environment would ultimately be the undoing of any attempt to relax the toddler while distraction would be a sufficient counteraction to these other stimuli.