BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Parents of young children may soon have a better option to protect their kids from the flu.

Last year, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control officially recommended that children 6 months to 5 years old get the annual flu vaccine.

Studies have shown that young children are hospitalized for flu just as often as the elderly. Now new research may offer a better, more kid-friendly solution to the flu shot in the form of an inhaled flu vaccine.

The nasal vaccine, marketed as FluMist, is already available to adults and kids older than 5 years. Now a new study has shown it's safe and effective for babies and very young children.

Doctors vaccinated more than 8,000 babies and young children and found that FluMist was better at protecting children from the flu than the usual shot. Kids who got the FluMist vaccine were half as likely to get the flu. Plus, with no needle, FluMist is an attractive alternative for parents of young children.

The study did find a higher risk of hospitalization in infants under one year, so the authors concluded FluMist should be limited to children 1 year old or older.