Works-For-Me-Wednesday: Giving Medicine to Little Ones

It seems I've been giving a lot of medicine the past few months. And I think I've got it down to an art.

C is really an easy one to give medicine to, unlike NLB when he was little. With all the grape, orange, and bubble gum flavorings now, who wouldn't be? The hard part is getting it ready in the midst of everything else and during the middle of the night in the dark. Because you know when they're sick there's always something to give in the middle of the night. And inevitably someone else has to give them medicine too...someone who isn't in on the fine art of measuring orange, pink, or purple sticky liquid that's quite possibly worth its weight in gold.

The bulb squeezie thing is ok, but my favorite tools for giving meds are the syringes you get from the pharmacy. They usually have teaspoon and mL measurements, which come in handy. It's also easier to control the flow of medicine as you're giving it to the little munchkin. Oh, and no chance of sucking slobber back into the syringe. (C'mon, you know it's happened.)

Another feature of the syringe is that you can draw the medicine up into it, then pull it back a bit more to let some extra air in. That way you can set it down without dripping stuff everywhere. Because how rare is it that you can actually get the medicine ready and give the kid his medicine without setting it down?

A lot of times when I know I will have to give medicine around a busy time (like dinner or bedtime), I'll go ahead and draw it up into the syringe just after the last dose. That way it's ready to give at the appropriate time and I don't have to worry about preparing it during a hectic time. It's also easy to let Husband give C his medicine if it's ready and waiting.

I do pretty much the same thing when I know I need to be ready to give him medicine in the middle of the night, like Tylenol or Motrin. No bleary-eyed trying to measure medicine in the dark or blinding light of the bathroom.

When the time comes for me to be away and someone else has to give the boy his meds, I will often prepare them ahead of time. I'll draw the medicine up into the syringe, pull in a little air so it doesn't leak, and for good measure, set it upside down in a cup. If I have a Styrofoam or other disposable cup, I'll use those and write the instructions on the side. That way it's already in the appropriate dose and ready to give. I can even set it in the fridge if need be.


Syringes and pre-measuring works for me when giving my boy medicine. Head on over to We Are THAT Family for more Works For Me Wednesday.