Okay, ANOTHER question about Prevacid dosing

[Anonymous]

Okay, so we started Lucy’s Prevacid this morning, and I have a couple of questions still: (BTW, she’s on 15 mg solutabs)

1. The doc and the pharmacy told us to dissolve one 15mg solutab in 4ml of water and then take 1ml of that solution and give it to her in a syringe. This seems weird to me, since there is medicine left over in the cup afterwards. Does this sound right to you guys? Is it a standard way to give the solutab?

2. Many of you have suggested splitting the dose in two, 7.5mg in the morning, 7.5 at night. This may be a stupid question, but how do I do that? Physically break the solutab in half?:

Thanks for any advice as we navigate our first days on Prevacid!

Robin

[Anonymous]

My DD is on 15mg of Prevacid a day. I do break up the dosage and give her half in the morning and half in the evening before bed. Most everyone seems to think it’s better to do it this way to “keep it in their system”. And then there are some doctors may say that you shouldn’t split it because any granules that break during cutting aren’t effective??!?! It’s so hard to decide what to do with all of this reflux stuff!!

I have a pill cutter and I will split the pill in the morning, putting one half in a baggie to save and protect for the evening dose.

Here’s how I prepare and give her each dose…

-Take a medicine dropper (mine has a squeeze-bulb topper) and suck up 2mL of water then squirt into a little container so I have 2mL measured.

-Then I take the topper thing off the dropper and put the pill in it (no water in the dropper at this time).

-Put the topper thing back on.

-Squeeze the topper, insert it into the little container of water, and suck up that 2mL.

-Wait for about 30 seconds until it dissolves.

-Then I put the dropper in her mouth and gently squeeze and/or let her suck.

-Then I suck up about 1mL more of water and swish around in the dropper to get any remaining granules, then give that to her.

Sounds a lot more complicated than it is . Let me know if you have questions. If you’re still going to do one dose of 15mL, than you’d use 4mL at first and then probably about 2mL to get the remaining granules out.

[Anonymous]

My DD was on 15mg for a while. We did buy a pill cutter and divided the pill into two. I just used a TBS measuring spoon and put a little water in it. Then I dropped half the pill in and waited for it to dissolve. After that, I sucked up the medicine in a 5 ml plastic syringe and gave it to Gabby. If there was any left stuck to the spoon, I’d add a little more water and give it to her again. It’s really not the water formulation that’s important, at least not in my experience. You just have to make sure to give all the meds.

[hellbennt]

basically there’s a lot of trial & error…many have found great success using a dropper (like the one that comes w/ mylicon), like isabellasmommy just described. I just wrote this to joanna:

…you should take your solutab, split it in half and FORGET about how much water to add. Why should you listen to ME???? Well, I am speaking for a whole LOTTA moms (& dads!) from now allllll the way back from when the solutabs first appeared (at least first appeared here on the board- they were NOT here 5 years ago! They are fairly ‘recent’ on the infantreflux scene)…

ok, so take a pill cutter, divide that solutab and use JUST ENOUGH water to make it comfortable to administer to your baby. Some don’t even USE water! they simply hold the solutab in the inside of baby’s cheek and wash it down w/ some water…

OH! and you need to give it on an empty stomach, followed by a meal 30 minutes later. This is to make it the most effective.

[Anonymous]

I just hold the solutab in my sons cheek (I try to alternate the site each time) and let it dissolve. Then I wash it down with about 2mls of water. We were told to use 10mls of water to dissolve the solutab. It was WAYYY too much for us. I have to plug my sons nose to get him to take liquid meds anyway. But, like Laura said, every baby is different. Oh, and of course, I wash my hands first before I do any of this. And you can get a pill cutter at any pharmacy and at Walmart, Target, grocery stores, etc.

I believe it was Beth (Coopers mom whose dh is a pharmacist) that suggested that once you cut the solutab, you should wrap it in tinfoil and put it in a dark place like a cupboard. If I remember right, the solutab is pretty susceptable to light once its cut.

[Anonymous]

I’m so confused. Why would the doctor tell us to only give her 1 ml of the 4ml solution. I just called their office to make sure I understood, and this is again what they told me. But that would mean she’s only getting about 3.25 mg of the medicine. Does this sound right? She weighs 10pounds, 9ounces.

Robin

[hellbennt]

because your doctor doesn’t know. *sigh*

I don’t know why all of this is not known. IT stinks! It’s been 4yrs since my baby was medicated and, sadly, not a whole lot has changed. There has been SOME change, thank goodness! but not a lot…

Please go check out http://www.marci-kids.com

[Anonymous]

Another bit of advice is when you split the pill with a pill cutter you need to put it in aluminum foil b/c it is light sensitive and looses its effectiveness when it is exposed. Also you can read on the pack insert that the med isn’t effective after it has been in water for 15 so what I would do is give the 7.5 mg 2x/day. We gave it many different ways. I would put the pill in a syringe and add water and squirt, then we held in his cheek and when he was old enough I just gave it to him and he would “chew” it . The giving gets easier as they get older and have more motor muscle control.

[Anonymous]

We used to dissolve 1/2 tab in water and squirt it in her mouth, but she ended up spitting much of it out. Starting about a month ago (2 months old), I just put the 1/2 solutab in her mouth between her gums and cheek and she moves it around with her tongue until it dissolves. This way, she gets it all. We also give 7.5 mg 2 times a day and I use a pill cutter to split them and then put them in the dark.

[Anonymous]

We were only on it for a short time, but we tried dropping in the syringe and drawring water in, but DD seemed to lose a lot that way, so someone on this forum suggested the way KDub suggested, and that seemed to work well for us. I was always so worried that even one lost granule in the syringe would mean disaster. I think I was way over thinking it, but they were pretty dark days for my little one.

[Anonymous]

we would use a baby spoon! and put the pill on the spoon… drop a couple drops of water on to it… let it disolve a bit..and feed it to him that way!!! like babyfood.. he LOVED it! and it was easy to make sure he got it all.

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