What to do if your baby chokes on medicine

It is normal for babies to be unwilling to take medicine. No one wants to take medicine. However, when babies take medicine, parents should not force the medicine into their mouths, as this can easily cause the baby to choke. If the baby chokes while taking medicine, parents can let the baby lie on their knees and pat the baby's back. Just wait for the baby to spit out the medicine in the trachea.

What to do if the baby chokes on medicine

If your baby chokes on medicine, you should let him lie prone on an adult's lap or on the bed, and pat his back hard to make him cough it out. If your baby vomits due to coughing, you should quickly turn his face to one side to prevent the vomit from flowing back into the throat and trachea. Then wrap a handkerchief around your fingers and put them into the baby's mouth and even throat to quickly clean out the vomit, spilled milk and food to protect the smoothness of the respiratory tract. Then use a small cotton swab to clean the baby's nostrils to avoid respiratory blockage.

How to feed medicine without choking the baby

Feeding medication using a dropper

The biggest feature of the dropper-type medicine feeder is its straw design, which can effectively control the amount of medicine inhaled and the baby will not choke on the medicine. Parents should be careful not to insert this medicine feeder too deep into the baby's mouth. If the medicine dropper is used too quickly, the baby may choke easily, so be sure to use it slowly. First, measure the volume of the medicine liquid with a measuring cylinder, then put it into the tube, gently put the feeding part into the baby's mouth, and use the push handle to squeeze or press the medicine liquid into the baby's mouth. This process should not be too fast.

1. Prepare the medicine for your baby, read the instructions carefully, and check the dosage.

2. The person giving the medicine needs to wash their hands carefully with hand sanitizer.

3. Clean the auxiliary tools needed for feeding medicine and place them next to the medicine.

4. Prepare some boiled water and your baby’s favorite snacks such as biscuits or candies.

What to do if you choke on medicine

Currently, common infant medicines are mainly divided into liquid medicines and tablets. Liquid medicines are relatively simple to feed. The child can be half-lying or held in the parents' arms with the child's head slightly tilted to one side. Liang Guoxiang suggested that parents can use a dropper or syringe-type medicine feeder, which is simple to operate and less likely to cause accidents. If there is no medicine feeder, the dissolved medicine can be stirred with a small spoon. The parent can gently pinch the child's cheeks with one hand and put the small spoon in the child's mouth with the other hand, pressing the lower teeth tightly to allow the medicine to flow slowly into the mouth along the corners of the mouth. Keep the spoon pressed against your lower teeth until all the medicine is swallowed. Then take out the spoon, pour in a little sugar water, mix it with the remaining medicine in the spoon, and feed it again.

When feeding tablet-type medications, parents need to be especially careful not to give the pills or tablets directly to the baby. Instead, they should be ground into powder and mixed with water and sugar to make a thin juice before the baby can take it. Children who are too young not only have thin throats and poor swallowing abilities, but more importantly, they find it difficult to cooperate with their parents, and it is easy for them to choke on pills in their trachea during resistance.

First aid for children who choke on medicine

Once the baby chokes on medicine, in addition to rushing to the hospital, parents can take some first aid measures themselves:

1. Encourage coughing. Foreign objects that cause choking are mostly stuck in the throat, especially foreign objects like thin films and jelly. Usually only part of them are sucked into the laryngeal cavity, and part of them are outside the glottis. At this time, encourage the baby to cough loudly, which sometimes can cough out the foreign object.

2. Pat the baby's back while leaning forward. If it is suspected that a foreign object has been inhaled into the baby's airway, the baby's upper body should be tilted forward 60 degrees, with the baby lying prone on the rescuer's elbow, with the head hanging down. The rescuer should pat the baby's back vigorously with his hands, using gravity to help expel the foreign object.

3. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation. If the foreign body is removed and the obstruction is relieved, but the baby's breathing and heartbeat have stopped, artificial respiration and chest compression should be performed immediately.