Just a Spoonful of Sugar? Getting Infants to Take Medicine

There is a bottle that ou can put teh medicine in. Look for it at the baby store. She will just think it's a regular bottle instead of medicine.

My son always fights me so what I do is hold him down and put the syringe on the side of his cheek all the way back. I squirt the medicine and hold him horizontal until the medicine is gone. After I hold him up I give him lots of hugs and kisses and put his focus to something else, maybe a bottle or jello or something that would make him forget what has just happened. He is actually getting better now that he knows it is quick and for the most part painless.

We found that our ds wouldnt' take the medicine all at once or out of a larger sirynge. We ended up breaking up the doese in 1 ml increments. One tsp equals 5 mls so we would give ds 5 1ml syringes worth of medicine. You can get the smaller sirynges from a pharmasist. According to my Dr, it doesn't matter if it takes 10 or 20 minutes to dole out the doses either. The one thing she said not to do was to mix the antibiotics in a bottle (can't determine how much the baby gets if they don't drink the entire thing) or with other liquids especially hot liquids since they can destroy the antibiotic.

If she is bottle fed, you can put the meds in her bottle, so long as the pharmacist says that's fine with that particular med. Always ask the pharmacy though, b/c some meds can't be warmed. I always made a 2oz bottle that included the med and gave that first to ensure it was all gone, then I'd mix up another bottle for the rest of the feeding.

With my son that was breastfed and refused bottles that was not an option and he was on a LOT of nasty meds, I just had to pin him down with his arms on his sides, hold his nose(to make him open his mouth) and pour them in with a dropper. It was always very upsetting, but that's what his Dr.s said to do. It worked, but it sucked.

I've seen pacifiers that hold meds and the baby just sucks them out, but never tried them. Good luck!

Put the medicine in milk or juice and it will hide the flavor.

Well, I scanned the responses (wow- you got a lot!) and didn't see the thing that worked best for us. My son has never liked taking meds and would always vomit if he aspirated it at all- not fun. What worked best was getting the free syringes with the little blue straws(on the pharmacy counter at Market Street in McKinney). They're regular syringes but have this tube that you stick on the end of it. You have to coerce the tube onto the end. My son started actually sucking out of it like a straw and if he didn't, it was much easier to squirt in the back of the throat or back in side of cheek with it. If your pharmacist doesn't provide one or have one handy, you might ask about it.

I also blow on their faces to get the medicine to go down. When you do that, their reflex is to swallow. Sometimes, you have to pin down the squirming baby to even get to that point...but hey, at least its only 10 days, right! Good luck!

I have a 21 month old who has taken medicine for allergies every day of her life. Around 8 months old she started refusing to take her medicine so we started putting it in her bottle or sippy cup with a few swallows of juice (most medicine you can't mix with milk or formula) and she would drink it. Hope that helps!

Hi V.,
I wouldn't recommend adding sugar. Sugar is a toxin all by itself. It's a sweet toxin but yet still a nasty illness causing toxin.
We used the medicine spoon that was plastic, looked like tube and a slight spoon on the end. After we'd measure out the dosage, I would hold their hands and I'd give the medicine to them. No, they didn't like it but it would be over in a few seconds. We'd give them a little swig of water to wash it down and move on.
If your daughter is on an antibiotic, you should ask the doctor for a probiotic too. Anticbiotics help with infections but they also destroy the good bacteria in the colon and attribute to a low immune system (make you more suseptible to another sickness). Using a probiotic will help get the good bacteria in her colon quicker so she's healthier. If you ask your doctor, he'll know what a probiotic is.

Hi V.,
As a Pedi RN we deal with this all of the time. We don't recommend putting the medicine in abottle w/ juice or milk- one it can make the babies go off the bottle b/c of the taste and two if they don't finish all of the liquid you don't know how much they have gotten.
The moms who have suggest holding the baby down and just squirting the med in or blowing to get the baby to swallow are right on target.
Sounds cruel, but it needs to be done :-)

D.

I JUST went through this with my 21 month old twins. I looked evrywhere and I could not find an answer. I finally called my pediatrician and this is her advice and it worked!! Now I know that she is too young to really understand b/c she is only 7 months old, but try this. Get on her level and tell her that she has to take this medicine and she has no choice. She will understand the tone of your voice and that will make an impact.

Now here is what REALLY worked for me: Wrap her in a soft blanket burrito style. It feels much better to her than your hands. Then if you need to mix the medicine with plum babyfood so that it is thick enough that it cant run down her neck into her clothes. put it in her mouth- if she spits it out keep on scooping it back in. again and again until she had taken all of it. She will get that she has no choice and she will give up and just take it. Oh- and another trick I descovered on my own. As soon as you put it in her mouth gently blow on her face and she will swollow. Some sort of reflex.

Anyway- I know this is long but I hope it helps. Taylor now takes her medicine without a fight. Actually almost happily. I only had to wrap her up three times before she started taking it on her own. Good luck!

sometimes doctors can change the antibiotic to one that tastes a little more appetizing. it's obviously important that she receive the proper dosage so if you continue to have difficulty you may want to change the medicine. we recently had to give our son antibiotics and had the same problem. i would hold my son in my arms (singing his favorite songs) and keep his arms down while my husband delivered the medicine deep into the back of his throat. when it's back that far they can't spit it out and usually just quickly swallow. my son resisted the first two times and then just took it beautifully. after a few more doses i could just sit him up by himself and he would open his mouth. it completely sucks to feel like you're torturing your child, but you know it's best for them. good luck!

I haved the same issue with my 2 year old and I would just have my husband hold her and we would put a little in at a time and blow in her face. It takes a while to get it all down but at least we know that she got it all.

you can always call your pediatrician's nurse...what I find helpful is a holder to stabilize the hands and head then holding their nose and squirting about 1/2 the volume into the back of their mouth along the side- the cheeks...keep holding the nose- they will have to swallow for air. Repeat until all in.
If you don't have a holder it is tough---lay your daughter on the floor- and you can hold her head still with your elbows as you give her the medicine...not very pretty...but it gets the medicine in. Hope this helps.

Hi, as a mom of three stubborn boys, my advice is to get excited about it. I act silly and make funny noises and faces and act like they're about to get the best treat ever! Each time they take their medicine without a fuss, I tell them what good medicine takers they are, followed up with a mini-lecture on never taking medicine that you don't need or that Mommy hasn't said for you to take. All three of them almost always take their medicines without a problem. My 23 month old is currently taking some allergy medicine, and I haven't had to force it yet. Hope this helps!

D.

I have used a syringe and give all to them on their backs so it cant be spit up, it goes right down their throat. Of course this is unplesant and means holding hands, feet and head still to get it in, but I feel its so important I grit my teeth and we get it in. After a few trys it gets better. With my older son we use reward motivation (bribing) we give me a treat to take medicine that he finds particularly distastful.

Lie your child semi-prone or on their back. Use the dropper method if she will not sip. Slide the medication into the back of her cheek near where her molars would be. Use 3 to 4 times depending on the dosage and gently blow so she swallows.

If all else fails, lie her down, hold her arms still and if she screams, shoot it straight back. It sounds horrible, but it all goes down her throat then, not on her chin.

Mother of 4 little ones

Hi V.! I had the same problem with my daughter when she was right about 7 months. I had my mom and I both holding her down, wrapped in a blanket, trying to get the medicine in her. And blowing in the face doesn't work for all kids... it makes both of my kids spit it out, usually in my face! So we called the dr. and they gave us a pill antibodic. We would crush the pill and put it little by little into small bites of a food that she loved, like yogurt, pudding or even ice cream. It worked like a champ for us! She never even knew it was there!
C.

They have a medicine pacifer. You can buy it at grocery stores, cvs or walgreens.

I have 3 children, including one 10 month old. I know the difficulties of getting a baby to take medicine. Here is the best way... trust me, it is great.

Babies are use to sucking on a nipple, like a bottle. Squirt the medicine into the nipple and let them suck it out. My son didn't like the taste of his medicine, but when I gave it to him this, he just sucked it down to fast to even know it tasted bad! There is also a little medicine cup dispenser that you can buy that comes fully equipped with a nipple. I got one at Babies R Us. Same concept and works wonders.

I would suggest trying just a regular bottle nipple first, then if you succeed, then go purchase the medicine nipple dispenser thingy. Works great!

When you get prescriptions for babies and kids, you can actually have the pharmacy flavor it. We have only had to get one prescription for ours. We got bubble gum flavor and didn't have a problem getting it down. You might be able to call the pharmacy and get flavoring added.

Hi V.,
I am an RN and mommy of 2 who have taken a lot of medicine in their lives...an old nursing school trick is to blow on their nose when you give them the medicine, it triggers the swallowing reflex...hope this works..you could also put it in a small portrion of formula and give the meds in her bottle..
Good luck!
A. H

My daughter has always been terrible about taking medicine. She typically would spit it out when I tried blowing in her face and holding her down made me want to cry everytime. Now that she is older she won't let me get anywhere near her with a syringe. I have found that either adding the liquid or crushed (chewable) pill form of the medicine to a small amount of applesauce (just enough to camoflauge the taste but not too much that she won't be able to eat it all in a few bites)works wonders. My daughter still knows its coming but she is much more cooperative.