| Spring 2003 CARES Foundation, Inc. | |
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Parent Tips!! (solutions for common problems)
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| Administering medicine to an Infant
I have the solution for easy medication administration! It is called "The Medicator" by Munchkin. I found it at Wal-Mart, but I've seen them at other places too. My daughter is nearly 3 yrs. old and I still use it, just because it is so easy. (Unless, a child will chew or swallow the pills, this is the next best thing.) It is a small 10 ml. container connected to a screw- on nipple (like the nipple on a bottle, not a pacifier). Since the Cortef and Florinef dissolve so easily, I just put the pills in the little container and put a little clear juice in it. (I use clear liquid so I can see if all of the particles have dissolved.) If you leave the pills in the liquid long enough, they will dissolve completely, but if you don't won't to wait, then I have a solution for that too! I took the plunger out of a syringe (like an extra syringe you may have for the solu-cortef injectable) and the flat part of it fits perfectly down into that little medicator for crushing those pills! No medication is lost from crushing the pills in a crusher, then trying to put that powder into another container to give it to the child. And this can be used for very small infants, so you don't have to worry about the medicine dribbling out of a baby's mouth, like you do if you are squirting it in their mouth with a syringe. Here's a tip though-Don't put any other kind of medication in this dispenser!! You don't want your child to associate something that tastes bad with this particular dispenser. So, find a different kind of dispenser for other meds such as Tylenol, Benadryl, etc. Hope this helps! Gina Murray, Mississippi
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| Breastfeeding an Infant with Saltwasting CAH | ||||
| My 7 week old son was diagnosed with SWCAH at 13 days of life. My biggest hurdle since his diagnosis was getting salt into him. I had made the choice to breastfeed before I ever even conceived my son and wasn't willing to give it up without a fight. I tried everything I could think of short of pumping all his feedings to get the salt down. Nothing seemed to work. Without fail he would get horribly congested and end up with salty milk coming out his nose. In the end I decided to post a message on the CAH main message board.
I got tons of responses, but very few from breastfeeding moms. Most the responses suggested I break it up and mix it in with all of his bottles. Not much help for a breastfeeding mom. I did have one response from another mother of a breastfed baby who suggested I try wetting my finger, dipping it in the salt, and wiping it in the baby's mouth. My son didn't like it, but the salt went down and the whole ordeal was over in 5 minutes. This worked for about a week at which time he started spitting the salt out as soon as it was wiped in his mouth. So, it was back to the drawing board (and message board) again. Among the responses to my post was a message from a mom who now pumps all her bottles and mixes a little salt in each. She mentioned a method that hadn't worked for her in the post as well. She said she tried dissolving the salt in water and using a dropper to sneak it in her son's mouth while he was on the breast. I wasn't ready to pump all my son's feedings yet, so I thought I'd give the dropper a try. Once again it wasn't my son's favorite thing, but it did go down and has continued to since. One thing this ordeal has taught me is to be open to suggestions. If it weren't for people sharing their experiences, I might still be struggling with worry and frustration. For now I can relax a little and enjoy my son instead of constantly looking at him for signs of crisis. That said, I hope my experience can help one of you.Elise Jaudon, Florida
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| If anyone is interested in sharing their ideas/solutions with other families, please send us an email or a letter and we will print in our next newsletter. The CARES newsletter is published three times a year. | ||||
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