Complaint

Baby amoxicillin is pink. I was reintroduced to this bubble-gum flavored liquid this week as a result of Owen's first ear infection. I assume that red dye is added to the medicine in order to match the flavor and is not a necessary bacteria-fighting component of the drug. Thus begins my complaint.

My instructions are to give Owen 3/4 teaspoon of this elixir twice a day. The first few times through this process resulted in some spit-out medicine and dribbles down the shirt, but nothing too remarkable and I thought I got the hang of it. As long as I give the medicine in several small squirts and don't give him too much at one time, he does okay. Owen doesn't particularly like the process, but he's usually somewhat amenable. Until Monday.

This morning started out okay and he swallowed the first little bit just fine. But when I went to give him a little more, the little plunger thing stuck in the syringe, causing me to push harder and causing too much medicine to come out too quickly when it gave. At precisely the moment the medicine came out too quickly, Owen somehow expertly positioned his tongue so that the medicine would ricochet off of it, spraying all over my face and shirt. After recovering briefly and reloading the syringe, I positioned my next attempt. Apparently Owen was also flustered because the next attempt resulted in the pink liquid spit out all over his face and shirt.

Although subsequent attempts have been less dramatic, most result in at least some of the medicine on face, hair, and/or clothing. So I realize that this is all part of the parental learning curve, but if there happen to be any drug manufacturers out there, could you kindly remove the red dye from the baby medicine? Thank you.

Sorry for the long blogging delay. Pictures coming soon!