Tips for giving medicine without trauma?

[samsonsmom]

Well, DS has now developed an upper respiratory infection so the dr. has him on antibiotics. I've never given medicine to a baby before, and BOY is a teaspoon from a dropper a lot for a little mouth! So far, I think more of it has ended up on his chin, neck and clothes than in his mouth because the minute it hits his mouth he spits most of it out. It must taste horrid (it smells sickly syrupy sweet). I've been only squirting a little in there at a time, but he still spits and chokes and cries, then has lots of burps when we're done. I have him lying on his back because it seems the best way to get the most medicine in, but I think it also causes him to swallow more air.

Any tips?

Oh yeah and he won't take a bottle so mixing with breastmilk is NG.

And don't even get me started on suctioning the nose!

[Marisa6826]

Put the syringe in the back corner of his mouth between his jaw and inner cheek. Squirt the medicine in a few stages, allowing them to swallow.

Usually if you quickly blow in their face, they will automatically swallow the stuff down.

Have you tried putting the antibiotics in the fridge? Sometimes the cold will make it taste, uh, less nasty.

As far as his nose goes, try sitting with him in a steamy bathroom. Bring in some books or fave toys and a blanket. It will help break everything up. Then squirt in a little saline solution. A really good trick (and I know it sounds ridiculous) is to put the bottle in your bra for about 10 minutes. It will warm it to body temperature and not freak him out as much.

If he's old enough, you can try and get him to 'blow a candle' out with his nose rather than suctioning it. Actually, suctioning isn't recommended as much any more. You can do damage to the lining of his nose, making it more swollen. If you see anything immediately 'retrievable', use a Qtip. We've always had really good luck with Pediacare drops. There's one that is just for nose/colds and another that also adds in cough medicine. You can get it at any pharmacy/store. We always have some onhand. Apparently, it must taste good since both girls see it and open wide!

Once his nose finally starts running, bring him over to the sink, wet your hand with warm water and just wipe his nose/face so it doesn't get raw from tissues.

Another trick is to make some (preferably home made) chicken soup. Dilute it a bit and then put the broth in a bottle. I used to strain it through a couple of coffee filters to make sure there wasn't anything to clog the nipple. Sophie loved it.

Good luck :(

-m

[juliasmom05]

Oh gosh, I wish I could give you some advice to help since I know how frustrating it can be. We are also battling respiratory disease. A month or so ago, DD was on amoxicillin and prednisolone. She did the exact same thing as your DS. She spit it out, closed her mouth and screamed. Most of it ended up on her chin. We tried everything as well. After about the fourth day, all of a sudden she decided she liked it, and just started opening up her mouth when she saw the syringe. We used a syringe instead of a dropper but I am sure that probably doesn't make a difference. Hopefully someone else will have something more specific to help you out, other than letting time pass to let him get used to it.

Take care and I hope DS feels better soon.

Marci

Mom to Julia 4/05

[samsonsmom]

Thanks for the tips. I was just wondering about the Q-tip (pun intended)...I did that this morning and it worked really well to get stuff out, but aren't you afraid that DC will squirm and you'll accidentally shove it up his nose?

I like the sink/wet hand idea. You should see DS's nose right now---it's pretty pathetic. I'm going to try that one.

[samsonsmom]

Oh yeah, it is a syringe now that I think about it. Well, this morning's went better. He did cry, but swallowed most of it this time for a change. I set him in his carseat instead of flat on his back, and that seemed to help.

Thanks for your support!