Parents Should Never Pinch Their Baby's Nose to Force Medicine (Public Health Network)
Feeding medicine to babies can be a major challenge for parents. Resorting to "intimidation" when babies refuse medicine is not a sustainable solution. It may not only make them dislike medicine but also develop aversion toward you. In reality, babies are different from adults, and feeding them medicine requires specific techniques.
Parents should be aware of the "four critical issues" when administering medication:
Incorrect Method 1: Pinching the Nose to Force-Feed
"My child won't take medicine" is a common dilemma for parents. While some try gentle persuasion, many resort to incorrect or extreme methods when reason fails.Jiang Ruiling, Director of Pharmacy at Daxian General Hospital, explains that some parents pinch a sick child's nose to force medication down. However, this method easily causes the child to choke on the medicine, posing a serious risk.
Incorrect Medication Method 2: Arbitrarily Altering Dosage and Frequency
Other common medication errors include well-meaning parents, eager for a quick recovery, increasing the dosage or frequency without authorization. This can lead to drug overdose, potentially causing acute or cumulative drug poisoning.Additionally, failing to administer medication at the times prescribed by the doctor—giving it whenever remembered or skipping doses—can compromise treatment effectiveness.
Incorrect Medication Method 3: Self-Administering Fever Reducers
Some parents, upon noticing a fever, administer over-the-counter adult cold and fever medications from their home medicine cabinet. However, pharmacist Jiang Ruiling cautions that a child's fever symptoms may not be as straightforward as they appear. She advises against self-administering fever reducers and recommends promptly taking the child to a doctor to avoid delaying effective treatment or worsening the condition.If the fever persists despite administering fever-reducing medication, seek immediate hospital care. Provide detailed information about the medication name and time taken to assist diagnosis and treatment.
Incorrect Medication Method 4: Mixing Medication with Juice or Milk
Additionally, some parents mix medication with juice or milk to coax children into taking it. However, Pharmacist Jiang Ruiling cautions that juices contain acidic substances which may cause premature breakdown of the medication or affect its absorption. Certain juices can also interfere with the liver's ability to metabolize drugs, making it inadvisable to combine fever reducers with juice.
Mixing medication with milk or honey water also carries hidden risks. Milk can form a coating on the drug surface, causing minerals like calcium and magnesium to react chemically with the medication. This creates insoluble compounds that hinder drug release and absorption. Moreover, the taste alteration may lead children to refuse milk.
Honey reacts chemically with the "acetaminophen" component in fever-reducing and pain-relieving medications, forming a complex that impairs gastrointestinal absorption and weakens the fever-reducing effect. Therefore, it is not recommended to consume fever reducers or pain relievers with honey water.
Editor's Summary:
Illness is unavoidable, especially for delicate babies who are more susceptible during seasonal changes.Medication is often necessary when illness strikes. Analysis shows children refuse medicine primarily due to bitterness, followed by parents inadvertently conveying that taking medicine or getting injections is a form of punishment. Thus, parents should avoid using medicine or injections as threats. Instead, praise and encourage children when they take medicine smoothly, helping them recover quickly.