Giving medication to breastfed baby 'on empty stomach'

B

bumbeeno

Registered User
My little one has been prescribed antibiotics by his doctor and I'm supposed to feed it to him twice a day either on an empty stomach or an hour before food. Bub is fully breastfed and I feed him 3-hourly (sometimes sooner). He feeds the moment he wakes up from his nap and then we have some playtime before he goes down for the next nap.

My question, if anyone can help me out here, is when I should feed him the medication. He takes a feed as soon as he wakes up from a nap (most likely time for an empty stomach) so it defeats the intention behind the instructions to give him the medicine 'on an empty stomach' just before his feed - because as soon as he starts feeding the stomach isn't empty anymore is it? Neither can I make him wait for an hour after waking up before breastfeeding him. I am not sure how long it takes for breast milk to be digested otherwise I could give him the medicine just before he sleeps. Anyone got a clue? I hope the above makes sense!

Thanks in advance :)
 
in my opinion just give the meds to your baby right before breastfeeding is fine. our stomach is never truly empty anyway, I think what means by 'empty stomach' is 'before meal', feeding him right afterwards doesn't sound like a problem to me. hope he get well soon. :)
 
Thanks Gladys for the information and encouragement :)
I tried giving him the antibiotics last night and again this morning (via syringe). Last night he managed to swallow about 2mls, spluttering all the way before spitting out the rest. I think it must taste horrible, it looks horrible - fluorescent pink! This morning was even worse, I had my husband give it to him this time while I held him: again he managed about 2ml, with some spitting, then at the end he just vomited the whole lot out and it ended up everywhere! Needless to say, on both occasions he was crying and in distress.

I'm wondering if there is any trick to it? I've tried letting him suck on it but he won't (it must really taste bad), squirting it to the side of his mouth doesn't work either because he refuses to open his mouth wide enough. I have to do this for 7 days! and because it's antibiotics I have to persist and make sure he finishes the course. *big sigh*
 
How old is your baby? My girl is 10.5 months old now and she first got sick two weeks ago. She was prescribed with four oral syrup and one eye drop. From my experience, putting the syringe into her mouth and let her suck wouldN'T work because she is too small, maybe when she is a toddler then she would. What I did was everytime I finished giving her one med, I would reward her with a puff, she loves eating it, and then give another med. (In those days I also give her extra puffs during the day just so she won't associate puff with nasty medicines and stop eating it :P) Sometimes I teased her to open her mouth with the puff, but squeeze the meds into her mouth instead; If she keeps her mouth shut tight, I sneak the tip of syringe at the corner of her mouth and squeeze (just push the tip in the corner, your baby doesn't have to open his mouth); If she opens her mouth and tries to spit, I cover her mouth and hold her chin with the bib; My MIL also taught me if she cries or if she opens her mouth, blow some air inside her mouth and she would swallow (I know it works but I didn't have to do it).

I hope it helps you some! Good luck and get well soon! Take care yourself too because last time my baby got sick, I got sick afterwards, she passed it to me!
 
My baby is only 3 months old and fully breastfed - can't think of anything I can reward him with that he'd understand, but that's a good point to bear in mind when he's older! He tosses his head about when I bring the syringe near so we end up with lots of little pink droplets all over his cheeks and chin. I think I will go with slipping the tip of the syringe into the corner of his mouth and clean up the mess afterward, if only he doesn't vomit it all out again! I suppose a few drops of it is better than nothing? I guess the worst thing is how distressed he gets when I am giving it to him, I get distressed too and that's probably the start of a vicious cycle!

Also, that's a funny tip about blowing the air inside the mouth, I shall certainly try it when he fusses!

Thanks a lot Gladys, not just for the suggestions but for listening!
 
awww so sorry he is so small only 3 months old and sick. I think if he tosses his head you would have to have someone or have one hand holding his head and the other holding the syringe, maybe you can put him down on a bed or on sofa? My baby girl spits too so she never get the whole amount of med, but I agree a few drops is better than nothing! Just do as much as you can do, I was distressed too esp thinking the meds is aiming to help her but she spits it everywhere and she can't get any better and I would cry (I am too emotional sometimes). But sometimes we just can't control everything like babies do get sick no matter how well we look after them, so try our best is good enough, don't stress yourself too much.

You are very welcome, I am always here. :)
 
Gladys, thank you for that tip on getting baby to swallow! I tried it and it worked! Isn't it amazing and strange?? I laid him down on his rocker and fed him 1ml or so at a time, he cried and fussed of course, but he swallowed and didn't spit up anything. I was careful not to squirt too much at once. He took the entire dose! It wasn't easy to watch him fuss and cry, but I feel better that he has the medicine in his tummy. I gave him a feed after and that seemed to comfort him.

I know what you mean about being 'too emotional' - I am easily affected whenever something's not quite right with my baby or if I don't understand what it is he is doing. Am learning to relax and enjoy motherhood. You are right about just trying our best - I don't want to miss out getting to really know my baby by being overly-focused on things that are (mostly) beyond my control.

Thanks so much, you've been such a great support! xx
 
I am glad it worked out fine. He is getting closer and closer to recovery! Yay!

I have been there too about the emotions thing, in the first few months I really couldn't enjoy motherhood because I was too tense, I just keep worrying and stressed for every single thing, like she is not eating good, she is not sleeping enough, she doesn't start crawling...etc etc and that drives me crazy, and it really makes my husband worried too. Now I learnt to step back a little bit, let things happen as it is, and do whatever comes to us. And that way I can be a caring mother, but not a crazy grumpy woman in the house with a fussy crying baby.

Let's work hard together and enjoy being a mother. :)
 
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