need to get vile tasting medicine into 20 months old and really don't know how to

[RaisingMissDaisy]

Hi all

just the above really. I somehow need to administer something disgusting called Griseofulvin into my 20 months old daughter, 10 ml once a day, ideally with or just after food. it really tastes terrible. the first time she tried it willingly (because she didn't know what was coming) she screamed her head off afterwards and most of it came right back out. The doctor said we could try mixing it with some squash, but we have to dilute it so much I think that it would be hard to get the full amount into her.

Any tips would be appreciated, I am dreading the daily battle otherwise.

Thank you!

[GoldenGreen]

For just once a day I would be doing as much bribery as possible - bag of chocolate buttons if she takes it? Or a little bit at a time, followed by a chocolate button (or whatever she likes - my two would go for crisps every time!)

[forgottenpassword]

My Dc hate medicine. I am afraid we could only get it in by force at first. The best is to put it in with a syringe sideways into cheek in small quantities so harder to spit out. Them follow up with a treat!

[RaisingMissDaisy]

Thank you!
I am not sure I will be able to make her understand that she will get a treat if she takes the medicine nicely. if she was older and her language more developed then bribery would definitely be the way to go though

[sparklingsea]

I always had to mix meds in a small pot of friut yogurt.

[Jacksterbear]

What forgottenpassword advises. Ideally, you need 2 of you, one to restrain DC (head tipped back) and the other to syringe. Horrible, but necessary . Good luck.

[RaisingMissDaisy]

Hmmm.. yes, yoghurt be worth a try, I hadn't thought of that, thank you.
I have used syringes - and force - in the past as well, but it's so awful, she really fights as if she thinks we are going to kill her. But if nothing else works, then I suppose that is what it's going to be, while telling ourselves it's only to help her, and lots of cuddles afterwards.
Thank you all!

[vvviola]

Would something like nesquik or strawberry syrup help mask the taste? Concentrated enough that you don't need loads & loads of it? Ok, so there's lots of sugar in it - but considering the dietician told us to mix it into DD2's formula to try to get her to drink it (foul tasting non-allergic stuff) maybe as a short term measure it might work - and mean you have to spoon in less so you can be sure she has got it all.

[poozlepants]

I had to adminster DS his first antibiotic a few weeks ago- it was a vile cherry flavour. He threw up the first 2 doses and after tasting it I have to agree it was vile. I bought loads of different flavours of diluting juice and worked out which one disguised the taste best especially as he had to take it 4 times a day. Vimto diluting won out and he took it in that. The vimto is so sweet you don't need that much to disguise the taste.

[poozlepants]

I forgot to say DS is 4.5 so it was easier to reason with him than with a 20 month old. I sympathise DS threw up Calpol every time until he was 3.

[RaisingMissDaisy]

Thank you vvviola, strawberry syrup sounds like something that could work! Will give that a go as well :-)

[RaisingMissDaisy]

Oh good, Vimto now on the list as well! thank you poozlepants!

[mummy2benji]

Ds has had to have numerous vile medicines pretty much since birth for reflux, constipation, ear infections and low iron. When younger it was pretty much a case of holding him tightly and syringing it in tiny amounts at a time, into the back corner of the mouth to stimulate swallowing. He would take a dummy so I would have the dummy hooked onto my little finger, syringe in the same hand, and alternate a tiny bit of medicine with putting the dummy in his mouth. Lots of fighting initially but after a (good) while he just accepted it as part of life and opened his mouth for the syringe. Movicol was one medicine he just would not take, and he has occasionally needed this for constipation when everything else has failed. I mix the powder with 5mls of water, then stir it into a jar of Hipp chocolate pudding. He doesn't notice the taste hidden in that.

[Theas18]

I think you can also crush the tablets into food. Might be easier if you can get the right dose in tablet form..

[RaisingMissDaisy]

thank you! chocolate pudding is a good one to try too She has to take this stuff for a month, hopefully I will find a mix during that time that works

[goodygumdrops]

We used to mix medicine into ready brek in the morning.

[AdriftAndOutOfStardust]

Show the treat (we used kinder hippos) - but keep it out of reach - syringe medicine into the cheek then treat straight away. Over the course of 2 weeks went from fighting and screaming, to token struggling, to demanding that it is time for medicine.

[KatieLily12]

I remember someone saying agave nectar from health food stores are magic too?

[attheendoftheday]

Have you tried mixing it in ribena? It's horribly sugary but it covers nasty tastes well.

[AngelDog]

I had to do this several times when DS was around 18 m.o. - and it had to be four times away from meals and drinks. A GP friend told me how to do it.

Hold child in the cradle position as if you're going to breastfeed them. So if you're right handed, they sit on your lap sideways, facing your right. Let them lean slightly backwards and cradle their head/neck with your left elbow. Tuck their right arm under your left armpit so it's pinned behind you and they can't flail it around. Hug them with your left arm so it keeps their left arm under control and you can use your left hand to hold their head steady if necessary. Use right hand to syringe medicine into the mouth - squirt it near the back but at the side, not the middle or it'll make them gag.

I think the showing the treat thing would work eventually so worth a try. We also used to count - I couldn't get much into DS at a time, so I'd do 5 squirts and count each one, with a big, "All gone!" at the end. After a few days DS would 'count' after me after each dose, and anticipate the 'all gone'. It helped him realise that there were only going to be a limited number of squirts of vile stuff and that I wasn't going to keep on forever.

It'll be really difficult at first but it should improve as they accept it as part of the routine.

[RaisingMissDaisy]

Hello Angel Dog, thank you for this
We may have to revert to do it by force after all. On Friday DP mixed the stuff in with cottage cheese and honey and she ate the lot, what a relief! On Saturday this was less successful, she ate about half. She also took a few sips of it mixed with strawberry syrup but then had enough. Chocolate pudding yesterday didn't work at all, but then she doesn't have a particularly sweet tooth (yet) anyway. This medicine tastes quite strongly and leaves an aftertaste as well, so you have to dilute it quite a bit to make it palatable, but that results in quantities that make it again difficult to get into the little one, sigh... I am going to call the doctor to ask if this medicine exists in another form, maybe tablets that can be crumbled or hidden into a small amount of food. Otherwise it may have to be the forceful way after all.
thank you all for your suggestions

[WeAreEternal]

DS was a nightmare to get medicine into, we tried a hell of a lot of different methods but by far the best and most effective were mixing the dose of medicine with a teaspoon of honey or agave, when DS was a bit older he would happily have it just like that, but when younger I would mix it into yogurt.
The other method I liked was the milkshake syrups, the krusha one are popular. These are good if the medicine is particularly foul tasting. The medicine taste is completely masked.

[MsBrown]

I used to get the mouth syringe along with any medicines when my dd was little. I had to practically force it down. I just placed it at the back of her mouth and scooshed.

Most of the time, she spat it out. And this is when i resolved to mixing it into yoghurts, and prayed that she ate the whole pot, thus getting the correct dose of medicine.

It's not much better now she's older. She had Clarithmorycen (Sp?) last week, which is incredibly chalky. She spat it every where!

[hazeyjane]

With ds I squirt it tiny bit, by tiny bit into the side of his mouth, and stroke his throat, which makes him swallow.

He has to have 3 x foul antibiotics a day at the moment (a 4 week course) and then another foul ab daily for the ongoing future.

I really hate doing it, but I just try and be firm, and do it quickly and give him a huge cuddle afterwards, because it has to be done.