Giving Your Baby Medicine

Whenever I would try to give my baby medicine, it would usually wind up all over me, all over her cloths, and in her hair. Basically it was anywhere but in her mouth. A friend of mine, who happens to be a neonatal nurse practitioner, gave me some invaluable advice as to how to give a baby medication.

First, you need to make sure that you have the right dosage for your baby's medicine. You can find the correct dosage on the medication itself. If it is an over the counter medicine, it will usually tell you to ask your doctor as to the correct dosage for your baby. These medicine's dosages are usually determined by weight and too much of these medications can be harmful to your baby. Also make sure that any pain medications say "infants" on the box. Many babies have died from parents accidentally giving their babies medications marked "childrens." These are more powerful and are toxic to infants.

Fill an infant dropper or a syringe with the correct dosage of your baby's medicine. You should not have to buy a syringe or dropper. Over the counter medicines usually come with one and many pharmacies will provide one with a prescription. Just make sure to ask the pharmacist if they have included one with the medicine.

Make sure your hands are clean. Wash them with warm soapy water and make sure that they are thoroughly rinsed off.

Place one of your fingers in your baby's mouth. Babies have a natural sucking reflex when an object is placed in their mouths. Once they are sucking well on your finger, place the syringe or dropper next to your finger and slowly squirt the medicine into your baby's mouth. This must be done slowly or your baby might choke. If your baby still spits out part of the medicine, don't try to give them more. You might accidentally give them too much.

This method is also used in many hospitals in the newborn nurseries (don't worry, the nurses use gloves). They used it on my own daughter a few hours after birth when they had to give her some formula to stabilize her blood sugar levels. Though I've found this the easiest way to give a baby medicine, but there are other ways that you can give your baby medicine. You can try one of those pacifiers where you can put medicine in a special chamber in the pacifier, and, as the baby sucks on it, the medicine will come out. You can also mix some of the baby's medicine with a little bit of formula or expressed breast milk and let your baby drink it (This might not work with a baby who is exclusively breastfed as they might not take a bottle).

Make sure that you give your baby their medication consistently. This will ensure that they will recover from their illness. The key is to find which method works best for your baby.