How to give your child medication

Written by Kristie Rivers, MD, FAAP, Board Certified Pediatrician

When it comes to delivering medications to your child, it can be confusing with the instructions and measuring devices, but it’s important to get this right. Giving too much medication to your child can quickly cause an overdose, which can be toxic. Here’s how to give medications to your child safely and easily.

Medication devices

The most common devices used to dispense children’s medications include a medication dropper, a medication syringe, a medication spoon, and a medication cup. While your mother or grandmother may have used a teaspoon or tablespoon to give you medication, we do not recommend this. Spoons come in all different sizes and are not precise enough to give your child the medication that they need.

Dosage confusion

Most doses are measured in milliliters, or mLs, as this is the safest and most precise way to deliver medicine to your baby. Use the smallest delivery device possible so you can prevent errors. For example, if you’re giving a baby 2.5 mLs of a medication, choose the smallest dropper or syringe and fill to the 2.5 mL line. Use this instead of using a medication cup, which could cause error.

Safe medication storage

Make sure to store medications out of the reach of children. Also, store the delivery devices with the medicines. If your children use the syringes and droppers as toys, they may also think they can play with the medicine, and this can be very dangerous for your child.

How to give your baby medication

When you give your child the medication, be sure to sit her upright or at an angle instead of lying flat. This will help prevent choking. If you squirt the whole thing in at one time, this may cause the baby to cough and choke, and she may end up spitting the entire medication out.

Reviewed by Dr. Sara Connolly, April 2019