How should you give your child lansoprazole?
Follow these instructions when giving your child lansoprazole:
- Give this medicine exactly as your doctor or pharmacist tells you, even if your child seems better.
- Give this medicine half an hour before food, preferably in the morning.
How to give the capsule to your child:
- If possible, give the capsule to your child whole, with water or juice.
- If your child cannot swallow the capsule, you may open the capsule by pulling the two ends apart. There are little pellets inside the capsule and these pellets can be mixed in food such as applesauce, pudding, cottage cheese, or yogurt.
- The contents of the capsule may also be mixed in a small amount of juice such as apple, orange, pineapple, prune, or tomato.
- Do not crush the pellets. It is also important that your child does not chew the pellets.
- Give the mixture of pellets and food to your child immediately after preparing it. Do not make it ahead of time.
For a 7.5 mg capsule dose:
- If your child's dose is 7.5 mg, you have to give them one half of the contents of the 15 mg capsule.
- Open up the capsule and pour the pellets into a small container.
- Now try to split the amount in half and only give one of these halves to your child. (The amount you split may not be exactly half.) The remaining half may be saved for the next dose, but should not be saved for any longer.
If opening a capsule and giving the medicine by feeding tube:
- If you are giving the medicine by feeding tube, open the capsule and pour the pellets into an oral syringe with the plunger removed.
- Add apple juice (try not to use water as this will make the pellets sticky and more likely to clog the tube) and gently swirl the syringe so the pellets are spread out evenly. Slowly give the medicine through the tube.
- Flush the tube with two more syringes of apple juice to make sure the tube is clear of pellets. Make sure there are no pellets left in the syringe or the tube.
How to give the fast-dissolving tablet to your child:
- If you need to split the tablet, do this with a tablet-splitter. You can buy a tablet splitter at the pharmacy.
- Place the fast-dissolving tablet on your child's tongue.
- In about 1 minute, the tablet will break down into little pellets.
- Your child should swallow what remains in their mouth. The pellets should not be chewed. they can swallow with some water if needed.
What if my child cannot swallow the fast-dissolving tablet or needs the fast-dissolving tablet by feeding tube?
- Place the tablet in an oral syringe.
- For a 7.5 mg dose (1/2 of a 15 mg tablet or 1/4 of a 30 mg tablet) add 4 mL of water. Shake gently.
- It will take about 15 minutes for the tablet to break down. Then give the contents of the syringe to your child.
- To make sure all of the medicine is given, add another 5 mL of water to the syringe, shake gently, and give this to your child.
- For a full 15 mg or 30 mg tablet, add 10 mL of water and follow the same procedure as described above.