A nurse is planning care for a 5-month-old infant who is scheduled for a lumbar puncture to rule out meningitis. Which of the following actions should the nurse include in the plan of care?

A. Hold the infant's chin to his chest and knees to his abdomen during the procedure is correct. For a lumbar puncture in an infant, a proper position to facilitate the procedure is to curl the infant into a fetal position by holding the chin to the chest and the knees to the abdomen, which opens up the intervertebral spaces for better access. B. No sedation is needed, due to application of anesthetic cream is incorrect. While an anesthetic cream is typically used to numb the skin, sedation or pain management may still be required depending on the infant's tolerance. C. Apply an anesthetic mixture of lidocaine and prilocaine cream topically 15 min prior to the procedure is incorrect. Lidocaine and prilocaine are topical anesthetics, but the cream should be applied 30 minutes to 1 hour prior to the procedure to ensure effectiveness, not just 15 minutes. D. Keep the infant NPO for 6 hr prior the procedure is incorrect. Most lumbar puncture procedures in infants do not require the infant to be NPO for 6 hours. The NPO guideline typically depends on whether anesthesia or sedation is being used, and for lumbar punctures, a shorter fasting period (if any) is often sufficient.