My nearly 8 month old son was diagnosed w/ an ear infection on Saturday and he has been prescribed Amoxicillin for 10 days. My husband and I are having the hardest time getting him to actually take the medicine in that he goes on "lock-down" and won't open his mouth, his gums, etc. The medicine ends up going everywhere but in his mouth. Any suggestions or tips are appreciated as to how to get an 8 month old to open his mouth?!?
A big thanks to everyone for their advice and suggestions! I initially thought I was posting such a silly question but it was so nice to hear that others have had this challenge. We proceeded to give my son the Amoxicillin in the syringe that the pharmacy gave us and blowing gently in his face definitely worked in that it did make him swallow it. When we did the medicine routine together one of us would entertain/distract him while the other person got the medicine in. We are on day 5 of the medicine and it's going SO much better. He isn't fighting it or crying anymore when we give him the meds and my husband and I have both been able to do it on our own. Thanks so much for all of the feedback, I'm really impressed by the power of this website!
I had this problem too, but kept trying and eventually he learned to love it. He just has to get used to it....in the begining I would have my husband hold down his arms and give him a little at a time slowly, puting the dropper toward the side of the mouth.
Get a syringe from the pharmacy. That is how I got my kids to take their medicine. You can get just a little in their mouth at once and they won't spit it out
I always put my son's Amoxicillin in his milk with his bottle. It always worked good.
cvs has a flavoring system for 2.99. you can also give a freeze pop before to numb the taste buds
Ugh-- I totally hear you! I had a baby who needed Amoxicillin before she'd had any solid food, every mouthful would come out and stain her clothes!
But the good news is, they don't really need antibiotics for an ear infection. If he is accepting Tylenol for the pain, it will clear itself up and stop hurting him exactly as soon with the antibiotics as without, and less hassle for you. Not sure if he has received one or two good doses, in which case you should continue, but if it really hasn't gotten into him I'd punt on it and keep him comfortable, as his body will take care of healing himself.
Go back to the pharmacist and get them to add a flavor to the medicine (grape/cherry).
There is no way to force him to take it. Even if he's only on it for a week... this is time well spent. Trying to dose a wiggling 8 month old twice a day is a nightmare!
Good luck!
Hi A.
I would definitely squirt the medicine in and then blow in his face. I know it sounds so cruel but just remember that you are doing it for his own good. SOME ear infections may clear up on there own, but a lot don't. If ear infections go untreated it can lead to hearing loss, that is why when a child is referred to an ENT for frequent ear infections, they always do a hearing test to make sure they have not yet lost hearing. No parent likes to give antibiotics, but sometimes it is necessary. So I WOULD NOT recommend skipping out on the antibiotics, as another post had recommended. Remember, your pedi prescribed them for a reason. Good luck! Spring is almost here :)
I use to just measure it out, then put it directly into the nipple when he was a small infant, and he'd suck it out of the nipple while I held it. As he got older, I would put the medicine in with 1 oz of milk or formula (in the bottle) and have him drink it. I put the small amount in, because I knew he'd finish it and didn't want to chance him not finishing a whole bottle.
Hope this helps!
Good Luck!
Hi,
You can mix Amoxicillin with formula and give it to him in a bottle. Or, if you're nursing him, you can mix it with pumped breast milk. That's what we always do. Good luck!
Amoxicillin doesn't taste as strong when it is refrigerated.
Use a syringe as others have suggested, and play with him as well to get him to open his mouth, once he does, sneek the syringe in his mouth and laugh. My daughter used to laugh when I did that. With the syringe, there is less of a mess and you can control the portions. Then you praise him by saying and showing, "see you are almost done, you finished half of it". I.E. get him involved in the process. Also, the Amoxicillin of course is not only getting rid of the ear infection but also good bacteria. I recommend that you put baby acidophilius(found in Natural Health stores) in his water or juice to replenish the good bacteria. Also, when the baby is on antibiotics, you are not supposed to give him ANY dairy products, it works against the antibiotics.
Hope he feels better!
We had a similar problem with our daughter. We mixed the full dose with 1 oz of milk/formula and then fed it to her in a bottle when she was hungry (before her normal feeding) and she drank it without any problems. It's important to use a small amount of milk so that they drink the whole dose of Amoxicillan. Of course, this will only work if you son takes a bottle. Hope this helps!
Definitely the syringe and squirt it into his cheek as others have said. Also, a great trick is to blow in his face lightly after you squirt some. Thatt will make him swallow - it's a reflex action for little ones.
Someone asked if you got it flavored- if you didn't that might help. We use Target for all of our prescriptions and they do FREE flavoring with many choices.
Hi there,
You can ask your doctor but mine told me that we could mix the amoxicillin with juice or milk so my son couldn't taste it. Unfortunately my son should have been a taste tester for kings as he could still identify it was in there. He is older so we ended up getting the chewable form. But they did also suggest putting it in ice cream or pudding or something. So you can try mixing it with something your son eats or drinks. Good luck!
Hi. My son used to have to take reflux meds when he was that age, and we had a hard time with it, too. Two suggestions for you. First - try shooting it in the side of his cheek, a little at a time. There is a spot that if you get it, they have to swallow. Second, do you put it in a syringe? If you do, give him an extra one to play with. We tried that with my son one day (on a whim), and ever since then as long as he had it to hold (it distracted him), we never had problems giving him his meds. Good luck!
lean him back like your cradling him. Put the dropper in the side of his check. Let him cry it will open his mouth dont worry he wont choke. Squeeze it in about 1 mil at a time and then blow in his face real quick like your blowing off dust one big puff. Blowing in his face makes him swallow its a reflex. Just dont get upset about it and do it as quick as you can and he will get better about it. My daughter is on daily meds 3 x's a day for life so ive picked up a few techniques!
squirt it in to the back of his mouth between his teeth and cheek.
Two things worked with my children...
My daughter was all about the control and the strangeness of the syringe so we tried giving it to her little bits at a time on one of her regular feeding spoons and she took it. When it wasn't being forced into her mouth and it didn't seem all that different from how we fed her, she was fine with it.
To combat the strong taste of it, we mixed it into one of those kids drinkable yogurts (the regular yogurt is fine, too). The doctor said it was ok to mix it as long as all of it got consumed, so we'd take about half of the yogurt and mix with the medicine. The sharp taste of the fruity yogurt totally covered the taste of the medicine.
Good luck! I know how terrible it feels when your baby is sick and you have to give them medicine they don't want but you know it will make them feel better. :(
We told my son to just taste it and it was a treat. And he liked it. Then we gave it to him in a syringe and just said, something like drink drink drink. You could also try mixing it with yogurt. Don't show it to him because it maybe something new so he is scared and thinks that it is medicine and it is going to be bad. Is it flavored?
I found when my son got to about that age it was more of a control issue. We would measure out the dose and put it in the nipple from one of his bottles and tell him he needed to take it. They actually like the taste of it, I think it's the cramming down their throat they hate. He would actually do it for us a little at a time, and when he was done we would cheer for him and praise him. Believe it or not it worked, our Dr recommended doing the nipple thing and we never thought it would work. Hope this helps, it made a huge difference for us.
Have you tried anything besides antibiotics? Breastmilk in the ear or garlic oil drops (from Herbs for Kids) both work wonders and allow you to avoid the antibiotics - and he doesn't have to swallow them! =) Even doctors are beginning to admit that antibiotics are highly overprescribed for ear infections and this contributes to antibiotic resistance.
Hi A.,
I was wondering if the Dr. could prescribe suppositories for you. Good luck!
Hi A.,
My son has also dealt with ear infections...I hated hearing this, but it works. When you get the syrup in his mouth, gently blow in his face. His natural reaction to that is to swallow, I know it stinks, but you're dosing him to make him feel better. It seemed far less to deal with than the holding down, trying to get his mouth open, and it is over before he'll even know you started! Good luck! You may want to try a great Homeopathic remedy to help him build up his immune system when he's done with the meds. Echineca and Elderberry syrup, work as an intensive non-med. Just a suggestion!
