How to Get an Infant to Take Medicine

I learned this trick from a woman I nannied for. You lay them down and gently squeeze their cheeks when putting the medicine in. Wait until they swallow it. Done. They can't spit it out if you are holding thier cheeks in and only option is for them to swallow. It's not an easy process if your baby is a squirmer though.

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Have you tried a medicine Binki (ask your pharmacist - they sell them but they may need to order them ~ or you may find them on the internet)? If she doesn't take a Binki ask your pharmacist if they can use another flavoring. My pharmacy has grape, stawberry, lemon, cherry... flavoring that they can add into the medicine for an additional $1.00. Maybe it's just the bubblegum taste.

I have no advice to offer but I am in the same boat. My son is 11 months old and if i put the medicene in his bottle of formula he tastes it and gags and refuses to drink the bottle. If I use the syringe and put it on the side of his cheek, the back of his thraot, hold his cheeks, blow in his mouth, he ALWAYS spits it back out at me. It is so frusturating. So this is a "I feel you girl" response!! and I am hoping to find the miraculous technique to get my boy to take his meds also!!

lay her on the floor and squirt the medicine more in the back of her mouth.. they will usually swallow..

another trick one mom taught me that does work when all else fails is lay her on the floor put the meds in her mouth and blow real quick in her mouth.. it causes them to swallow. I know it sounds gross but it does work. It works so quick they don't even have a chance to get upset or gag.

I second the pacifier with the tiny cup on the end. It was the only way my son would take his medicine at that age. Before we had that, he would see the syringe coming and scream. Good luck.

I pinch her nose closed so she has to swallow to catch her breath

I also had that problem with my daughter when she was an infant (she didn't like that medicine either). The only way we could get her to take it - it sounds awful but works - is lay her on her back and use the syringe to get it in her mouth and then blow in her face. Because of the blowing, they have to breath so it goes down - like I said, it sounds awful but it works.

I'd ask the pediatrician's office or the pharmacist - especially since mixing it with other liquids may compromise the effectiveness of the medication.

My kids have always been good at taking medicine, so I haven't had any struggles with it.

But, before you start mixing it in too many foods/liquids, I'd find out of there are any that you should avoid to prevent it from being rendered less efficacious.

Good luck.

We had to buy a pacifier with a "well" that could hold the medicine...then as your child is naturally sucking on the pacifier, she's getting the medicine too. I think it's a Numimed Pacifier and we got it through www.coliccalm.com.

Did you have them add any flavor? Mine added Cherry and it helps. Good luck.

Did you try juice? She probably hasnt had juice yet and i dont reccomend it regularly, but maybe mix some apple juice with the medicine. You can get gerber juice or any brand and have her try a sip. If she likes it, put her medicine in with an ounce or 2 of the juice and she may take it.

I second the cheek and puff of air into her face. It doesn't have to be a hard puff - just gentle. They instinctively swallow. That is how we did it with my son as an infant. He was on antibiotics for the entire 1st year of his life for UTI's. That was in addition to other antibiotics for upper respiratory infections and ear infections. So we got very good at giving him the meds. BTW - neither of my kids liked the pink medicine either !

I used to be able to get my kids to take "yucky" medicine if I gave it to them in one of the little medicine cups, or a small dixie cup (measured correctly of course). It was cool to be big and get to use the cup. Also it helped to have a yummy chaser..."Take this really quick and swallow it, then you can have a.. (fill in the blank)." A few MM's maybe...? My youngest liked a cup of chocolate milk to wash away the yucky. Medicine for little ones is definately a battle sometimes. Good luck.
OOOPs..Sorry..I re-read that...I was thinking 18 months not 8 months. Sorry. Good luck

When my son had pneumonia at 1 yr old, we had to hold him down on his back, keep his mouth open with 1 finger (this was easier before he had molars), then squirt a few drops of medicine into his cheek so he had to swallow it a bit at a time. We put a towel under him because he'd still spit some out sometimes, but it worked more often than not. When we finished there would be hugs and kisses and I'd have a bottle ready so he could get the taste out of his mouth, but he had to take his medicine whether he liked it or not.

Put the syringe in more from the side than going at them from the front and while gently squeezing the cheeks, as some one already said, put it in and don't let them get a chance to spit it out by continuing to hold the cheeks. Then distract them if at all possible until they swallow. It really isn't that hard if you work fast and don't give them a chance to react. Put it farther back in the mouth too, and more on the side.
Some of those flavors made my kids more sick. Not sure if you get a choice with amoxicillin on flavors. You could ask your pharmacist as I've had them even suggest different flavors on some medications for our kids.

Try the syringe again...but this time be sure to put it along the side of the mouth closer to the back. You will have to use some tricks to get her to open her mouth...distraction and "fake outs" will usually work (pretending to give her the paci so that she opens her mouth....)

Squeeze the meds along the side of her cheek then pull out the syringe and gently blow a puff of air into her face. She own't like it...but it will make her swallow. With you putting it on the side it is nearly impossible for them to work it out of their mouths.

We took a LOT of meds including reflux and heart neds in the first year. The syringe on the side worked the best.

Another tip...put the med on a baby spoon and let her suck it off. The key to this trick is to GIVE the baby the spoon. They will have very little interest is they can't "control" the spoon and play with it. You just hold on to it long enough to make sure that the med gets in their mouth and then let them chew on it and play with it a bit (under your supervision of course!!!).