How do I give 6m baby medicine?

[MamaMaiasaura]

Dd has ab's for chest infection and has fever. She hates medicine and spits it, raspberrys it, gags and chokes and screams. I use a syringe and a little bit at a time and scoop dribbles with spoon. It takes ages and she gets to upset.

Also as I'm posting (bfing her as I type on phone) her face has got red spotty rash come up :(

I used to put dd2's medicine in milk or yoghurts and mix it really well.

DS had a lot of meds for pneumonia at 5.5 months. What tmmj describes was the only way. On his back, arms pinned sadly.

Themild - won't she choke? With ds2 it was a nightmare giving him meds that I hoped there was an easier way.

I think if I mix it in food it's just take longer and with same spitting etc.

With cunning and guile!

Showofhands - @ pneumonia, is he ok now? Dd been poorly for weeks but only spiked temp yesterday.

Much better yes thank you. He was in hospital for a week and was quite unwell but bounced back quickly. They said it would take weeks for the full effects to go and they were right. Only now, 6 weeks or so on, is he seeming fully recovered physically. I'm still fairly traumatised however.

The nurses all used the on back, squirt into back of mouth/cheek and wait till they swallow method. DS's record was 15 minutes. He lay there gargling it and if you sat him up he'd spit it out so we had to wait for him to swallow.

It's so miserable when they're ill and I hated having to force ds to take the medicine. But he started off with a virus, then a throat infection, then pneumonia. I wish I could turn back the clock and start him on ABs earlier than they did and it wouldn't have ended up so bad. The distress of forcing meds on a baby is infinitely better than them getting worse.

How's the rash? Where is it? What sort of rash? DD always gets viral rashes when ill. And rashes on her face when coughing/vomiting (burst blood vessels).

Showofhands - glad he's all better. Sounds similar age, dd will be 6 months on Sunday. She's had virus and upper resp virus for almost a month now, but as she's was feverish and crying all day yesterday and breathing noisy took her to dr for umpteenth time and they dx chest infection and px amoxicillin week course. Rash is only on left side of face, red flat spots. Also her arms and legs a blotchy/mottled. I assume that's either oxygen not getting there so well or fever related. She's stilling nursing frequenly, sleeping, Alert when awake so fx she's better soon.

Absolutely hate forcing medicine but needs must I guess and reassuring to hear pead nurses did/do same

I did the laying down, awful but it worked

I find if I blow gently in DD's face her reflex is to swallow - so I do this alongside using the same technique as TheMild.

It's horrible isn't it. Ds2 had same thing for past 6 weeks, upper respiratory virus, led to ear infection then chest infection. Hope your little one picks up soon. i know this sounds odd but Ds2 actually takes the Med's better if i just offer him a spoon whilst sitting up, got very excited at the sight of it! Ds1 however had to be pinned down and squirted into cheek pouch.

meant to say Ds2 is 6 months too.

I agree with the other advice given about the meds but just read your comment about her looking mottled. If she is still like that now please take her to gp/a and e to get her sats checked just to be on the safe side.

Bless her, she now raspberries every time she see syringe cutie

Suppositories are the way to go. They don't bat an eyelid on the continent and the medicine is absorbed more quickly too.

What Sirzy said - but because a rash can be an allergy to antibiotics