Help - I can't get him to keep the ABs down

[BearintheBigBlueHouse]

DS (nearly2) has impetigo. Dr immediately prescribed oral AB (fluclox) rather than cream, but after one disaster with a spoon and a choking fit with a syringe (an hour later he's still not swallowing - he's saving up his saliva then drooling onto the furniture and his clothes) I'm at a loss how we're going to get it to work. There is one big patch on the crown of his head and now what looked like little spots on his face have started to yellow and weep, so we really need to crack this before it spreads big time. Can anyone help? He wouldn't be calmed after the medicine with juice or biscuits, he just gagged and spat over and over. Ant tips gratefully received. TIA

[starlover]

can you bribe him?

[BearintheBigBlueHouse]

Sorry "any" tips please - I don't think ant tips will help. Ta

[starlover]

lol

[QueenOfQuotes]

does he drink juice, water of milk? I know you 'shouldn't' - but we have (on occasions) added the medicine to a drink and made sure they've finished it. We usually only half fill the container to ensure it's not 'too much' for him to finish at once

[BearintheBigBlueHouse]

I'll keep trying with different biscuits etc - but after this morning's performance, I'm not sure.

[Marina]

Not familiar with fluclox BITBBH...is it disguisable at all IN the juice or in milk?
Syringes can work if you aim them to the side and back of the throat but feisty toddlers are often resistent to this.
I'd be tempted to ring the clever old GP who prescribed the medication and get them to suggest some ways of getting it down ds.
Sometimes IMO they don't think through whether there is a slightly more palatable alternative - we insisted on a substitution once, and it did work.
Best of luck and hope your cub looks and feels better soon. Impetigo is a real yuk-fest

[bran]

Can you get it as a suppository (sp?) instead? I know it's considered really horrible in the UK, but it's the norm in lots of countries for children.

Why shouldn't you add medicine to drinks QoQ?

[happymerryberries]

Check with the manufacturers to see if it can be disgused in a pot of yoghurt or fromage frais.

Phone and ask for the medical information department and they should be able to help you out.

[Marina]

bran, because if the child fails to drink the whole drink then some of the dosage is missed. Mine rarely finish a drink, I know

[BearintheBigBlueHouse]

thanks all - might try to mix it into a Petit Filou - he never fails to polish those off, although 4 a day might put him off them for life

[QueenOfQuotes]

"bran, because if the child fails to drink the whole drink then some of the dosage is missed."

But if they're anything like DS1 was when little we never got a full spoonful or syringue of medicine down him anyway.

Whereas a small (not normal) amount of juice or milk was guranteed to go down

[BearintheBigBlueHouse]

Well that didn't work - he detected the taste immediately spewed it up - then tried syringe again, not fun. The stuff on his face is spreading so we really need to get it into him somehow. I'll contact the GP first thing to see what she suggests, but if anyone has any other top tips, please pass them on.

[mandyc66]

go back and ask for cream?!

[BearintheBigBlueHouse]

On the basis that the oral ABs haven't really been staying down, I've self-prescribed this afternoon and applied Fucidin cream and then ointment to the lesions (yuk), but the way they appear to be increasing in number on his face makes me think that some way of getting a course of antibiotics into him would be the best way forward. I'm calling the surgery first thing, thanks for your advice.

[motherinferior]

Hope Little Bear is better soon.

Why oh WHY do kids hate medication so much???

[stripey]

Had the same problem when ds1 was around 2 would not take AB or any medicine at all. I was also told that certain antibiotics don't work if they are mixed with milk. Eventually we reasoned with him and loaded the spoon with sweets eg jellies/smarties anything he was not normally allowed and he did take it.

Don't know if it will work for you might be worth a try.

[BearintheBigBlueHouse]

Well - we're nearly through the course now and we've managed to get most of it into him by pinning his every limb down and syringing it bit by bit into his cheek and rewarding him with milk afterwards (he still hankers after mid-morning and mid-afternoon bottles since dropping them a fair while back, so 3oz here and there is a real treat). It's an effort, but not much has been spurted out since the first day or so. I just hope enough has got in to kick the thing. It really looks to be receding, thank goodness. We've been keeping ourselves in purdah all week and we're just a bit stir crazy now.

I'm still applying Fucidin too - but how on earth do you apply cream/ointment to the scalp without shaving the poor mite's head first??!? With the hair on his crown sticking up wet look-style and the rest neat and flat, he looks like that bloke with the big product-laden hair off the Mighty Boosh. Poor kid.

Anyway, thanks everyone for your advice.

BTW GPs receptionist wouldn't let me speak to a GP just ordered me to speak to the HV - gotta love them haven't you - I bet it would be easier to get put through to Tony Blair than one of our GPs