Getting paracetamol into tricky 8yr old. Tablets?

[NotCompletelyUnfortunateLooking]

I'm desperately looking for ideas on how to get paracetamol into my DS...

DS is 8 and will NOT take Calpol or any medicine. He only drinks water (his choice not mine!). I've tried all the different flavours and types but it's the fact that it's a liquid that is not water, he can't get past it. He is not my first and I like to think I am not a pushover. When he was a baby he was very very resistant, and the last time I managed to manhandle him to get some down him was when he had a raging temp with covid aged two, and he was then sick anyway. Obviously I can have more logical discussions with him now, but we still cannot do it. I live in fear of him getting an ear infection or something and needing antibiotics, which thank god hasn't happened.

Illnesses are thankfully fairly infrequent, but every time he has a fever we have ended up just muscling through. And now he is burning up again and can barely lift his head bless him and I hate that he suffers more than he needs to.

We have tried fastmelts. Still no.

I asked at the pharmacy counter today if there are paracetamol tablets he can have. She produced some cheap ones and said half a tab from 6 years, but "Calpol would be nicer for him y'know" - yeah thanks for that lady and for listening to what I just told you 🙄. But, they are still fairly large in half and incredibly bitter. I don't want to put him off forever by setting him up to fail here.

I know tabs are not ideal, but surely some kids manage? Someone must have produced decent, small, lower dose paracetamol tablets, he can't be the only person for whom they would be useful?! Do they exist?

Any advice or solidarity would be much appreciated.

I have sensory issues around liquid meds, I once ended up turning a packet of movicol into jelly and then eating that - maybe try that with the soluable version, or mix it into yogurt / rice pudding / ice cream / Nutella etc.

If he can swallow tablets at all then buy capsules rather than tablets as it's much easier to focus on swallowing when you are not dealing with the terrible taste.

What about Gloup Zero gel? Info taken from their Amazon listing.

I had to use myself in the past for several months due to swallowing problems and needing to get pills into me safely. Not an ad but it really helped me when I needed it.

Then he might be able to have a drink of water directly afterwards but pill has gone done smoothly.

" Gloup Zero is a swallowing gel for simple and smooth swallowing of whole pills and capsules.

Grinding pills or opening a capsule is not necessary when using Gloup Zero.

The swallow gel is made from 100% natural ingredients and contains no gluten, allergens or gelatin and is sugar-free.

Gloup works in three ways:

1. The swallow gel is thick and supple and ensures that you swallow your pills and capsules easily and that they then quickly find their way through the esophagus to the stomach.

1. Gloup Zero moistens the mucous membranes in the oral and pharynx.

1. The fresh fruit flavor of Gloup Zero covers the dirty taste of many medicines. - Half a tablespoon at a time, also for several drugs at once. No more dirty aftertaste of your medicines. - Makes grinding pills or opening capsules unnecessary! -

Suitable for everyone, from 2 years. Gloup Zero helps you swallow pills, capsules and tablets ".

Comes in a couple of flavours.

Work on getting him to swallow tablets, much easier and less messy than trying to persuade him to take medicine.
stw-healthiertogether.nhs.uk/application/files/7816/4508/7907/Learning_how_to_swallow_pills.pdf

Look if your boy has a temp of nearly 40, stop fannying about, hold him down and syringe paracetomol into his mouth. You can worry about a gentler approach when he is not this unwell

Had anyone here who is suggesting crushing them actually tried them that way? Unless you disguise it in a LOT of something it's still obvious. Even then it's tricky.

I do like to think I'm pretty no nonsense in my general approach to life and I (actually we) have indeed wrestled it into him when he was a toddler. I think you underestimate how physically hard and traumatic it is to do that though, not to mention ineffective (he was sick), and how impossible it would be to do with a panicking 8 year old. And then what happens next time..?

No one is more frustrated with this than me, but I have had to accept he has a real problem which he has limited control over. No, he does not actually have a diagnosis of any additional needs, not least because he is a perfect compliant and academically brilliant angel at school... But despite being fabulous he also has various issues which worry me sick.

He is feeling and looking a bit brighter now he's awake. I'm going to chat to him about tablets again in a bit.

Does he eat ice lollies? If so, make him a calpol lolly.

This reminds me of when my son was six and we tried him with a half paracetamol - stuff buying that expensive calpol!

glass of water and the tab - come on now son just swallow it. Just swallow. Like you do with any drink. It's easy! Stop sucking it! (foam appears) JUST SWALLOW IT 🤣🤣🤣🤣

haha

Does it matter that much? Just tell him that if he doesn't take it the worse thing that could happen is that temperature gets so high it causes a fit and then he will be taken to hospital.

They are absolutely vile tasting!

The same as pets, crush up and put into something tasty. Xx

In terms of taking the tablet, I put mine behind my teeth, holding my tongue back in my mouth so that they aren't on it. Then I take a decent gulp of water and swallow normally. I can take anything like that - literally even a handful of 3-4 massive pills in one go. And you can't taste it at all. Might be worth a try?

Have you tried soluble paracetamol? They don’t taste great but you could put some squash in the water.

I have had experience of this, same age too, my dd would literally heave at the sight of calpol, and tablets just wouldn’t go down, leading to much much fuss.
until….. a temperature so raging had us in a&e, and a firm nurse told her you take this orally or I’ll pop it up your bottom, I’ll be back in 2 minutes.
she was, and it was taken orally.
never had a problem since.
not entirely the correct way to go about things, but it bloody worked

you can dissolve any tablet in water in a small syringe - I do it for my rabbit on advice of the vet. You open the syringe and add tablet and then add water and create a vacuum with your finger and then pump the syringe. There are videos out there that explain better than me

Yes I know 🙁
I couldn't really swallow tablets until my 20s but instead I could manage gulping down the gross tasting water.
It was the better of the two horrible options.
(although I usually added squash which unfortunately the OP says her lad doesn't like🙁)

Have you tried ibuprofen? They’re usually smaller and coated so easier to swallow.

i also had a refuser. I gave up and back to standard nursing comfort care. Tepid baths/washcloths, ice lollies, slightly cool water, light clothing, cool room etc. worked better than the medicine.

pp has clearly never had a kid who refuses medicine. We tried pinning them down and forcing it, guess what? Vomited straight back up. That’s when we gave up trying.

temperatures are there for a reason, to kill off the invading bacteria/virus. So it’s not always best to try and get rid of it.

I taught them to swalllow peas and tic tacs whole as soon as they were able. Easy transition to tablets.

Sorry haven’t read everything. Have you explained it’s dangerous to have a temp this high and he needs to take the paracetamol as if you can’t get it down the you will have to take him to hospital and they will need to give it via an iv? That’s how I got my son to finally take medicine when he was big enough for the pin down method to not work. 40plus temps are still a regular occurrence here when he is poorly and we regularly see 41 and 42 degree temps!

Suppositories! I've used them when vomiting and you don't feel them at all. They're way better for babies too

His temp is high enough, it would be good to be alternating with neurofen and paracetamol if possible. Know it's probably easier said than done. Maybe a fast melt dissolved in ice cream might work or suppositories if he will let you. Or a syringe and tell him it's an injection or something. You can educate him about it later.

No a&e is going to give iv paracetamol with a temp of under 40 unless the child is very unwell. In which case I don’t think you’d be able to threaten him into taking it orally.

o/p how is he in himself? If he’s just generally unwell but able to drink, eat, watch tv etc I wouldn’t overly worry and personally I’d let the temperature run it’s course rather than medicate.

there are studies that show that medicating a temperature cause the illness to last longer, as you’re reducing the body’s innate mechanism of fighting it.

obviously if he’s shows signs of deteriorating, or he’s very uncomfortable, then you can rethink.

i wouldn’t crush up tablets - they taste rank and it’s going to put him off.

half a caplet (not a round one) and tell him to chuck it in with a big mouthful of water and swallow.

If he hates anything other than water then the choice of one swallow with water will likely be better than the other options.

My son had cancer when he was 8 and the oncology ward has children as young as 3 taking tablets. He's 10 now and much prefers his medication in tablets, he also hates calpol.

The nurses on the oncology ward teach the children to swallow tablets by using tic-tac's. Works like a charm.

With paracetamol, he'd just have half of a normal tablet.

We used to have to give the calpol in the syringe and let ds take mini sips followed by gulps of water, painfully slowly. With ds it isn't a matter of he won't swallow a tablet, its more like he can't. Tic tacs, straws, crushing, jam, yogurt, tilting head, explaining, soluble... tried them all. He will now take calpol normally at the age of 17 and the fizzing on your tongue ones if he absolutely has to.

I am very grumpy and this issue stresses me out no end so I apologise for being arsey, but could you read the thread and the tone of my posts? - "if possible"... No it isn't possible that's the whole damn point of me pulling my hair out on the internet. A fastmelt in ice cream I hadn't thought of, but probably would taste more intense that just calpol mixed in.

He still has a raised temp but it is not as high now. He's been drinking all day, a small amount to eat, largely laying down watching TV. I expect a disturbed night, (even if he sleeps I won't!) but hopefully it will run it's course quickly without getting too drastic 🤞