Hi all,

We are trialling ranitidine 1ml x twice a day for Mr 4 months but are really struggling to get him to swallow it. He gulped down the gaviscon out of a bottle fine but ranitidine seems to be a different beast.

I know via the fact sheet on cryingoverspiltmilk that it is not ideal to mix ranitidine into anything else but this seems to be the only way of getting it into him. He will take it in 20ml of EBM or formula - is it ok if we mix and give it to him immediately like this or should we persist in trying to get it in straight? (and/or does anyone have any tips for this?!)

Thanks in advance!

Have you tried it? It tastes like bitter peppermint and is quite full on for a wee little one. I would try putting the medicine syringe into the side of his mouth. This way his tongue can't get it out and it will slip down his throat but not make him gag and choke like if you squirt it into the back of his throat. This worked for me at 6 weeks. Some people mix it into choc yogurt but he is too little for that. If you are having success mixing it into formula go for it. Better than nothing but most people find the flavour so full on it just makes it harder getting 20 ml in instead of 1 ml. Not sure if it is the same for ranitidine as it is for Losec in that the Alkaline-ness of the milk will lower it's effect a bit.Roz might be able to answer that one. But if so it would still be better to get it into him anyway. After a while they start to like the taste as they relate it to feeling better. I have to really hide ours from our 2 year old as he loves it too much!

HI there,
Like AmyNona mentioned - not sure whether putting it into milk affects the efficacy of it.
We used it for our girls - and they just got used to the taste (they were started on it at 8 weeks old). And yes - it is a horrible taste!

We used to squirt it down the side of their cheeks using a dropper (pink top on a 5ml dropper that you can buy ffrom chemist). I know in the beginning that they obviously didn't like it - but they simply got used to having it - and would open their mouths as we approached with the dropper.

Sorry I can't think of anything else to help. All the very best! It really did work wonders on our girls (and they're now 8 years old!, without any further problems)

Thanks guys. I guess it is better to try and get it in straight if possible. We have now had some luck squirting it into the side of his cheek which seems to result in less being spat out - thanks for the tip Girls Mum.

That's funny you have to hide it from your wee one now Amy! I have a friend who has a similar issue with her wee Pamol addict!

Not sure if it is/will make any difference as we are not sure if our issues are caused by reflux but it is worth a try to see if we can make our wee man a bit happier.