Any suggestions on giving a 7 month old medicine? He turns his head and spits it out?
Hi L.
I don't have any great suggestions to get him to take the medicine because both of mine will suck it right out of the droppers. I just want to caution about a suggestion that said hold his nose shut- that will make him try to BREATHE through his mouth and can cause him to aspirate the medication and cause serious problems - like choking or aspiration pneumonia.
tilt his head back a bit, put the dropper to one side of his mouth towards the back of his tongue and hold his nose as you squeeze. He's not going to like it but he will swallow it then. good luck!
When my girls were little and needed to have liquid medicine, if If the medicine didn't come with an eye dropper to use, I would always have a nipple & ring from a bottle to use. I would then put the medicine in the nipple part of the bottle & let them suck on the nipple, till the medicine went down.
Mix it in with his food.
You could try putting it in about 2 ounces of a favorite juice or in some yogurt (if he likes yogurt) or baby food.
Good luck. I hope the juice works for you.
I decided to try what my vet said to do for my cat - give them a little, and rub their throat - it forces the swallow reflex - works pretty good!
My son is on several daily meds and so I can sympathize. One thing that really works is the putting it in a bottle nipple and letting him suck it. It is best to catch them before they eat as long as it is ok for the meds that way. Then they are really hungry and more likely to take it quickly.
The other thing that works really well is a pacifier syringe. We bought one at Walgreens a year or two ago with my oldest. They suck on it and the medicine is pushed through a little tube while they do.
Good luck!
I always had to mix it in with my daughter's food or make her a bottle and mix it in that.
If he's on the bottle, mix a little med. with a little drink, and give it to him when he's thirsty. Also, I have a med. cup that has a nipple on it. I got it at Walmart.Ask dr. when he's a little older, if you can give him chewables and crush them in applesauce or whatever. This works for my youngest who also spits the liquid out! Good Luck!
Have you tried using an oral medicine syringe or dropper? Put it in his mouth far enough back that he can't easily spit out the medicine but not so far that you poke him. Also try squirting the medicine off to one side. That also seems to make it harder to spit out medicine.
First try mixing it with food. If he takes apple sauce yet, try that since it masks it well. If he can't eat any solids yet try my next suggestion.
The best option however if that won't work and you don't mind paying for it is to have your medication flavored. Many pharmacies do this including Genuardis, the one I work for in the area. Most meds can be flavored. If you go to a pharmacy and they tell you they can't flavor it this may b/c the pharmacy doesn't want to take the time to do it for you (i've been told about this experience from friends of mine). I can tell you that genuardis definately does it and will even favor meds from other pharmacies as long as you tell them how many doses you have given so far so they can do it correctly. However it is easiest to do it with meds that have not been started yet. The flavors come in everything from classic bubblegum to chocolate cherry pie - why didn't they have this when I was a kid:) Some meds can only be flavored with one flavoring such as zantac b/c it tastes so strong. hope this helps. if you have any questions feel free to contact me.
My son needed to take medicine all the time as a baby. The nurse in the NICU taught me the trick of using a bottle nipple as someone else already mentioned. Dont use a whole bottle, just the nipple, it worked like a charm! I have also had success with mixing the medicine with applesauce and yogurt, but dont mix it with too much because then you have to give them the entire bowlful to make sure they got all of the medicine.
L.,
Here's another thing to remember--when you're using the dropper/syringe to give liquid medicine, it doesn't have to be "all at once." Give a portion, let him swallow it, then give him a little more, etc. You know you have the full dose in the syringe so you'll be giving the correct amount overall. Good luck!
Unfortunately there is no reasoning with a 7 month old. When my daughter was about this age I had to stick my finger in the side of her mouth and squirt it in with an oral syringe. Neither of us were happy about it but it worked.
I have three kids and I know what a task that could be. I was told to put the syringe on the side of their cheek and blow in their face at the same time. It make them swallow it. Works every time for me! Good luck!
What we did with the troublesome medicine takers, lol, was take a nipple attached to just the ring, put the medicine in that and put it in their mouth. They suck it right down their throat before they have a chance to taste it or anything. Works like a charm!
K. B
mom to 5 including triplets
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HarrisburgPAChat
is he still on the bottle at all? we have this awesome bottle from walmart. it has the medicine syringe built right in. it has been the best thing i have ever recieved! you take the syringe out, measure the dose, pop it back into the bottom of the bottle and fill the rest of the bottle with whatever your son likes to drink. then as he sucks on the bottle you gently push the syringe plunger and, viola..he gets the meds he needs and you're not cleaning up vomit cause he decided he wanted to gag on the medicine...trust me...i have gone thru this recently! it's called the "reliadose" bottle. i found it at walmart for about 9 bucks, but believe me, it's totally worth it. especially in the middle of the night and the baby needs tylenol..lol!
i hope this helps!
Hi L., I'm a pediatric nurse and what we would do in the hospital was squeeze some down the side of the child's mouth with a medicine dropper syringe and immediately squeeze their cheeks closed until they would swallow. They usually really don't like it but using this technique they can't spit it back out and they will get the full dose and it's over really fast. If you mix it with food, there is a good chance they won't eat it all and then you'll have no idea how much of a dose he got. Best of luck with whatever you decide to try!
