Test Your Knowledge

The majority of oral medications for infants are available in liquid form. These drugs often include a sweet flavor to make them more palatable to youngsters.

Infants should be given medication with a syringe, dropper or calibrated spoon because they are not yet able to drink from a cylindrical dosing spoon (which resembles a long test tube with a small spoon at the top) or cup, and regular silverware spoons are not consistent in size. These devices, which may be packaged with the medication, allow a parent or caregiver to squirt, drop or carefully spoon the medication into the baby’s mouth. 

Syringes, which are also handy for storing a dose of medication to be used at a later time (e.g., by a babysitter) are available in two forms: oral and hypodermic. Oral syringes are intended to be used to distribute medications by mouth in liquid form. Hypodermic syringes may also be used for this purpose, but parents or caregivers must be sure to remove any needles from the syringes beforehand. It is also important to note that many oral syringes include caps which, according to reports from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), may be a choking hazard for infants. Therefore, parents may want to discard these caps (if they do not plan on using them in the future) or store them out of reach of children.

Tips for administering oral medication to infants include:

1. The parent should hold the infant in the crook of their arm and open the infant’s mouth gently by pulling down on the chin. If the infant is especially fidgety and no other adults are available to provide assistance, the infant may be placed on a safe, flat surface such as a bed or changing table.
   
   
2. The parent should place the dropper or syringe in the corner of the infant’s mouth and discharge the medication. They should attempt to slowly squirt the medication on the inside of the infant’s cheek, which does not contain the bitter taste buds found on the back of the baby’s tongue. If using a calibrated spoon, the parent should place the spoon on the infant’s lower lip and then lift the spoon, allowing the medication to stream into the infant’s mouth.

Additional tips for providing oral medication to infants include:

• Ask a family member or friend to hold the infant while administering the medicine.
  
  
• Wrap the infant in a blanket to prevent the child from fidgeting while administering the medicine.
  
  
• Administer the medication as quickly as possible because infants have short attention spans.
  
  
• Blow gently (as if blowing out a candle) into the child’s face, which should trigger a swallow reflex.
  
  
• If the infant spits out all of the medication, start the process again and hold the mouth closed by applying gentle pressure until the infant swallows.
  
  
• Administer the medication in several smaller doses with a medicine dropper. Careful calculation of dose is important to ensure the infant receives the recommended amount.
  
  
• Speak to the baby in a soothing tone while administering the medicine. Although they cannot understand words, a calm tone of voice may help put infants at ease.
  
  
• Contact the pediatrician if the infant vomits within 20 minutes of receiving the medication because another dose may be necessary.

Infants may also require other types of medications, such as eye, nose and ear drops. Tips for administering these include:

Eyedrops:

• Hold the infant still. Ask another adult for assistance, if possible.
  
  
• Pull the eyelid down gently and allow the drops to fall between the lower lid and eye.
  
  
• Tilt the child’s head back so leftover drops do not stream down the cheek or into the opposite eye.

Nose drops:

• Hold the infant still. Ask another adult for assistance, if possible.
  
  
• Slightly tilt the head back and distribute the proper amount of drops – two or three at a time – into each nostril.

Ear drops:

• Position the infant on his or her side with the unaffected ear down.
  
  
• Hold the infant still and distribute the proper amount of drops into the affected ear.
  
  
• Wait until the medication has streamed down into the ear canal.
  
  
• Gently push at the tiny bump of cartilage that lies in front of the ear (tragus) several times to help guide the medication down into the infant’s ear canal.