My 8 week old daughter has to take 2 doses of antibiotics a day for the next 8 days (5 mls at a time!!!) and we are having a heck of a time giving it to her. She just lets it all roll out of her mouth. We have tried using a nipple to give it to her and that didn't work either.
Does anyone have any suggestions for giving it to her. Thanks so much!!!
Thanks to everyone for the great advice. We ended up getting a pacifier that dispenses medication...just in time for her to get used to taking it with a syringe. Of course!!!
Have you tried laying her down and putting a little in the back of her mouth(toward her cheek) this always worked for my kids. Even if they cry it is hard for them to spit it out because it's in the back of her mouth so she should swallow it.
Mix them with some apple juice in a bottle. Can she take applesauce? It can be mixed with that.
Pat
Use the plunger against the inside side of her mouth, hold her nose (only for the second and a half) and then eject it into her mouth. It always worked for me when mine were that little.
I had to do the same with my little one when she was 6 weeks old. We are still on antibiotics. What I did, and I checked with my drs office when my child wouldn't take it from the nipple was: Make your child a bottle (hopefully you don't breast feed, so maybe you could put a little breast milk in the bottle) put about a 1/2 ounce of milk (formula or breast) in the bottle with the medicine. Shake it, then give the child that first. Once gone, give rest of bottle or finish breastfeeding. It may take a couple of times but as long as you give the medicine bottle first and the child gets all of it then your dr should be fine. If a 1/2 ounce doesn't do it you may want to increas the milk to a full ounce to make it more like just plain milk. Hopefully I've helped. Oh and by the way: if your little one has to be on antibiotics for a long period of time, it does get easier. My little one is now 14 months old and she knows the routine, she even lays on my lap now and opens her mouth for her medicine. Good luck!
Try calling the Pharmacist to see if you can mix it with one ounce of formula/ breast milk.
A plastic syringe aimed into the side of her cheeck. Once it's in there squeeze the plunger all at once. Dr. showed me this(about 9 years ago) and claimed there was no other way it could go but done. Ask your Dr. as well. She'll need probiotics after the anti- biotics. Not sure where you live but Fruitful Yield in Aurora can help you out with the probiotics for her.
M. F.
I use the bulb syringes most at that age, sometimes the baby will actually suck it out on their own, but she might be too young for that. My favorite for a small baby is holding her nose while you squirt it into the back corner of her mouth. Then she has to swallow to be able to breathe. Good luck!
Hi Jessica:
Have you tried adding the antibiotic to her bottle? If you're nursing, you might have to pump and feed her from a bottle.
Good luck.
J.
Jessica,
I used to squirt a little into the side of my baby's mouth and then blow on her face. The blowing makes her swallow reflexively. This used to work for my little ones. Good luck!
I had to give my son meds starting when he was 6 days old. I learned quickly how to do this effectively. Take the syringe and put it as far back in her cheek as is comfortable for her. Push it and her natural inclination should be to swallow. I know it can be kind of a pain, but good luck!
I would like to note that a previous responder recommended to put honey on a baby's nipple. DO NOT give babies under 1 year of age honey. While bacteria found in honey is good and harmless to older children and adults, it can make young babies very sick possibly fatal. Please do not do this.
As a peds nurse I have always found the with the little ones it works best if you do a little at a time. Find the skinniest syringe you can find (you may have to call the dr office) and since she's so little you can lay her on your knees with her head at your knees and her feet at your waist. Pince her cheeks together like a fish face and put the syinge all the way in the back of her throat ( but not enough to gag her). Slowly inject 1/2-1ml at a time. Give her a pacifier and let her suck it down. Then repeat until entire dose is given. YOu can also give her a pacifier and slide the syringe in along side it and inject. I would NOT recommend putting it in a bottle because of a few reasons:
1-she has to drink the entire bottle to get all of the medicine
2-She may not like the altered taste and refuse the entire bottle
3-It may turn her off of the milk/juice altogether (you definately don't want that)
Hope this helps! Sorry about the length!
Some of this sounds mean...the plunger and hoding of the nose. We have had to give our little one vitamins and medicine since she was born. Depending on the thickness of the meds just get a baby nipple and put the meds in the baby nipple then they will suck it down. Our doctor has said first thing in the morning when they are most hungry. Our little one has a really gross smelling/tasting medicine and when its administered this way she takes it down quick without thinking twice. Our doctor does not like the idea of putting it in milk etc. mainly because it dilutes the medicine. Good luck and our baby is great with all of it and yours will be also:) We also make a game out of cleaning her face and cleaning buggers out of her nose. When most babys are crying because there face is being wiped or the nose. She just takes it all in stride.
I second Ann's response. Just put a little in her mouth and gently blow in her face. She will automatically swallow.
Try mixing it in 1 ounce of water in her bottle. You can smear a drop of honey around the nipple. My kids took it just for the honey....they were always healthy from the honey so don't worry. their bodies build antibodies to the bacteria it comes from.
Yeap and I will 4th the blowing in the face. My grandson was absolutley horrible at taking medicines. I basically held his nose and blew in his face the minute I gave it to him, that's the only way I could ever get medicine down when he was that age.
My son had to have antibiotics at about your daughter's age. I don't remember how much we had to give him, but we laid him on the floor on a towel and just squirted it as far back in his mouth as we could get it. The farther back you squirt the meds, the less choice they have to swallow it. If you're not comfortable doing that, I would do as others have said and mix it with the baby formula.
I had the same problem when my daughter was about that age. I tried the blowing in the face. Didn't work too well. I ended up giving her 1 oz of formula mixed with the med and made sure she drank it all. It worked like a charm!
Try giving her little sips at a time and blow in her face after each one. It startles them and they swallow what is in their mouth. My 6 month old refused to take them any other way.
A little trick that a nurse once told me, although it's not completely nice: after you put a little of the med in her mouth, gently give a soft and short blow of wind on her face. It will make her breathe in a swallow. Or, you could work it into the milk. Good luck!
I had to do that too and the only way it stayed in was by putting a little bit at a time on the inside of her cheek. Good luck!
I would follow the advice of giving it to her in a small amount(to make sue she gets it all) of formula or breast milk in a bottle. It worked greqt for me with my now 1yr. old and their not getting traumatized by being held down or forced. I still do this with my 5 year old(in a small amount of juice or milk) works great.
Take the nipple off a bottle and pour the med in the nipple and let her suck it out.
just wanted to third the blowing in her face idea. It works amazingly well.
Does she take a bottle?
I also got a medicine doser that is like the world's smallest bottle LOL
You can measure really small amounts in it and then give it to baby the way you would a bottle. I used it to give my daughter Motrin and she loved it. I've also seen some that are pacifiers that you can put meds in...
