For parents and carers giving syrups, drops or antibiotic suspensions to a child.
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Measuring the dose
- Use the syringe, dropper or measuring cup that came with the medicine, or an oral syringe marked in ml.
- Never use a kitchen spoon. Household spoons differ widely in size, and a wrong spoon is a wrong dose.
- Read the dose in ml. Check it at eye level.
- Read the strength on the label every time. The same medicine comes as drops and as syrup, and drops are several times stronger. Paracetamol drops and paracetamol syrup are the commonest mix-up.
- Shake the bottle before each dose.
Antibiotic powder to be mixed with water
- Tap the bottle to loosen the powder.
- Add boiled and cooled water up to half of the mark on the bottle. Close and shake well.
- Add more water exactly up to the mark. Shake again.
- Store it as the label says. Most need the fridge, not the freezer.
- Use it only for the number of days printed on the label, usually 7 to 14. Throw away what is left.
Give the antibiotic for the full number of days the doctor wrote, even if the child is better sooner.
If the child vomits the dose
- Within 30 minutes of the dose: give the same dose again, once.
- After 30 minutes: do not repeat it. Give the next dose at the usual time.
Do
- Give with the child sitting up. Aim the syringe at the inside of the cheek, a little at a time.
- Write down the time of each dose.
- Keep all medicines out of sight and reach of children.
- Check the expiry date.
Do not
- Do not mix medicine into a full bottle of milk or a full bowl of food. If the child does not finish it, the dose is lost.
- Do not give an adult's medicine in a smaller amount by guess.
- Do not give a medicine prescribed for another child.
- Do not buy cough and cold syrups for a child under 5. They are not to be given at all under 2 years.
- No honey for a baby under 1 year.
- Do not call medicine a sweet or toffee.
If a child may have swallowed the wrong medicine or too much
Do not wait for symptoms and do not make the child vomit. Take the child and the bottle or strip to a hospital with a children's emergency department, or call 108.
Questions about this sheet? Call Caspian Healthcare reception on +91 89193 41154. A doctor is on duty at all hours for problems that are not critical. Caspian has no emergency department: in an emergency call 108.
Where this comes from
- American Academy of Pediatrics 2015 policy on metric dosing of liquid medicines (summary by the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality)
- Medicines for Children (Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health): amoxicillin for bacterial infections
- National University Hospital Singapore: how to prepare, administer and store oral liquid antibiotics
- Directorate General of Health Services advisory on cough syrups in children, October 2025 (report by All India Radio News)
- NHS: botulism (honey under 12 months)
Prepared by Caspian Healthcare from the sources above. Last reviewed October 2026. General information: your own doctor's written instructions come first.