How to read a syringe (1619)

Key points below


Oral medicine is given in the mouth. It is best to measure liquid medicine with an oral syringe before you give it. There are many sizes, so it is important to use the right one. A small amount of medicine can be hard to measure. Use the smallest syringe you can to be sure to get the right dose. 

Spoons are not all the same size. Do not use a spoon to measure your child’s medicine.
A dose of liquid medicine is measured in milliliters, or “mL” for short. Ask the pharmacist for the best syringe to use for the medicine.  Have them draw a line on the syringe to show where to measure. Check with the pharmacist each time you get medicine.  The strength of the liquid or the dose may have changed. 

There are 2 parts to a syringe: syringe

1. The outer part is a tube that has lines to measure the right amount of medicine. 
2. The inner part is the plunger. It sucks the medicine in to the tube.  The top straight edge of the plunger is used to measure the medicine. Do not measure at the dome. 

Here are different kinds of oral syringes. It is important to look at the numbers on the side to see what size it is. The syringe from your pharmacy may look different. 

syringe

How to measure: 

Important: The lines mean different amounts on different sized syringes.

On a 1 mL syringe, the longer lines are marked with numbers for each 0.1 mL. 
The short lines measure 0.02 mL. (0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08)

Example: 0.24 mL: Fill a 1 mL syringe with medicine until the top of the plunger is at the 0.24 line.

See each arrow on each syringe for where to draw up the medicine.

syringe

Example: 0.85 mL: There is no 0.85 line. Fill a 1 mL syringe until the top of the plunger is between the 0.84 and 0.86 lines. 

syringe

On a 3 mL syringe, the longer lines are marked with numbers for each 0.5 and 1 mL.

The short lines measure 0.1 mL. (0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9)

Example: 2.8 mL: Fill a 3 mL syringe with medicine until the top of the plunger is at 2.8.

syringe

On 5, 10 and 12 mL syringes, the longer lines are marked for each 1 mL. 

The short lines measure 0.2 mL.  (0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8)

Example: 6.5 mL: There is no 6.5 line. Fill a 10 mL syringe until the top of the plunger is between the 6.4 and 6.6 lines.

syringe

Important safety tips:

Keep all medicines in a locked place where children cannot get them.
An open bottle of medicine is dangerous. Keep it covered. This will stop the medicine from getting spilled and keep it safe from others.
Throw any caps from a syringe in the trash. Your child could choke on it.

ALERT

Call your child’s doctor, nurse, or clinic if you have any questions or concerns or if your child has special health care needs that were not covered by this information.