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How To Help the Medicine Go Down

No matter how careful you are to keep your baby healthy, sooner or later she'll come down with an illness that requires medication: for instance, a temperature that has to be brought down with a fever reducer, an eye condition that calls for eyedrops, or an ear infection that requires an antibiotic or ear drops. (Of course, never give a newborn any medication before getting her doctor's okay, and always double-check the dosage.) It's important to keep your baby calm and still while you administer the medicine-otherwise, it will just end up dribbling down her chin, cheeks, or neck. Before giving any medicine, always thoroughly wash your hands.

Tools of Choice
A newborn is too young to be spoonfed her medicine. The best way to give an oral dosage is with a bulb dipenser or an oral syringe. After using either of these dispensers, be sure to wash inside and out with hot, soapy water, then rinse thoroughly.

Oral Medicine
Cradle your baby in your arms as if you were nursing or feeding her; you may want to control flailing arms by swaddling her in a blanket. Next, gently part her lips with a clean finger. Place the tip of a bulb dispenser or oral syringe at the rear of her mouth, between her gums and cheek, and slowly squeeze the dispenser or push down on the syringe. (Shooting the medicine directly on the back of her throat will make her gag, and squirting it on her tongue may cause her to spit it out.) Gently pinch her cheek to trigger the swallowing reflex.

Eyedrops
Lay your infant faceup on a bed or changing table (you may want to swaddle her). Use one hand to gently tilt her head back. With your other hand, hold the medicine dropper about a half-inch above the inside corner of her eye (be careful not to touch or poke her eye with the tip of the dropper). Squeeze out the prescribed number of drops, then wait until she's blinked a few times before picking her up.

Ear Drops
Lay your baby belly-down on a soft surface and turn her head so the infected ear faces up (again, it may help to swaddle her to prevent her from batting the dispenser away). Use one hand to gently hold her head in place and the other to position the medicine dropper just inside her ear canal. Slowly squeeze out the drops, gently wiggling her earlobe to help the medicine penetrate, then hold her still for a minute so it doesn't drip out. If you need to treat the other ear as well, wait five minutes (though she doesn't need to remain on her side).

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