4 yr old DS refusing to take medicine

[knackered76]

Please help! He's not well, had a temperature of over 100 yesterday and is currently asleep on the sofa. He refuses point blank to take medicine, always has. Bribery and blackmail don't work and if I try to 'make' him have any it gets all a bit to horrible with him screaming and me pinning him down, not to mention pointless as he spits it out again. I'm totally lost at what to do to get medicine down him. Any advice or tried and tested tricks would be welcome :)

[Tee2072]

I was going to suggest chocolate bribes, but you said that didn't work.

That's what I do, so I have no ideas!

Gee, that was very unhelpful. Thanks for posting Tee!

[knackered76]

brought a smile to my face so definitely worth posting!

[ShowOfHands]

Why does he need it? Is it antibiotics?

[CarolSinger]

I used to disguise calpol in strawberry yogurt when DS wouldn't take it

[cornonthecob]

first suggestion is tell him it tastes of strawberries/icecream etc..

if this fails my dh's techinque is once medicine is in his mouth my dh will hold ds nose (while i hold ds still or other way round defo 2 person job) then he is forced to swallow... its awful i have to admit, i hate when dh does this, but it works gets the medicine down and in turn his temperature. make sure you have plenty of wipes nearby to clear up any mess!

funnily enough now, ds takes medicine without a fight, touch wood. hth

good luck.

[earwicga]

How about the Calpol Melts? They are chewed. You don't have to say they are medicine, but I expect they taste like medicine - or say they are 'big-boy' medicine and all that garble.

And cold flannels on the head and all the stuff like that that I expect you are already doing.

[hippohead]

We have had success hiding DS' medicine in the type of chocolate syrup which is designed to be put ontop of ice-cream. It is so sickly sweet that he really didn't seem to taste the dreaded medicine.

If he is ill and needs medicine please don't feel bad for resorting to whatever it takes to get it down him- needs must.

Hope someone else comes along with a better suggestion...

[knackered76]

Thank you all for your suggestions. I will embark on hiding it in whatever I can find and then invest in some calpol melts tomorrow and try those. Failing that, a 2 person job it will have to be!

[allnightlong]

If nothing else works and it's important he has the medication have one of you hold him still and the other syringe it in.
If he's very wriggly then wrap in a towel or blanket first.
Not pleasent but then in my house some things are non-negotiable, medication is one of them.

[earwicga]

The Calpol Melts are for 6+ but I guess you could use half a pill if your child is younger.

[CarolSinger]

Not a pleasant alternative but I believe you can get suppository paracetomol from the pharmacy.

Give him the option of which he would rather have and you may find you don't have to struggle to get a spoon in his mouth?