to be crying too trying to get DS to take some calpol

[Madmartigan]

Please give me tips! We ended up both in tears, Even wiht help from Grampa. He used to be okay but he has had two or three viruses on the trot and now he is just miserable. DS, not Grampa. He just gets distressed when he sees the syring coming. Spoon was a disaster.

How old is DS?

Silly me, meant to say he has just turned 2 so too young to reason or even bribe.

Bribery every single time. Currently DD is having to take a vile medicine for her anaemia (I tasted it it's like metal) three haribo sweets for every spoonful taken.
However, if your DS is too little for this and it is vital calpol gets in then advice I was given by paediatrician to get lifesaving antibiotics in was hold their nose they have to open their mouth to breath. Not fun, but someimes really necessary.

Can you pop it in a beaker of milk?

Mix into a small amount of something nice to drink? That used to work for us.

I never gave dd calpol. If he is more distressed at trying to take it then why not leave it. What symptoms are you trying to alleviate.

Not sure, but would Calpol still work if mixed with food? So like a strawberry milkshake? or ice cream?

when I was young my mother mixed a cherry flavoured medicine with white grape juice (I HATED the taste of cherry flavour) but it was more liquidy than Calpol so it dispersed nicely

Mixed with strawberry yoghurt? Or, even better, icecream?

How old?

When DDs were small we used to mix it into something they liked eg strawberry yoghurt or rice pudding.

I'll try milk. He's not a massive guzzler of drinks.

YY icecream would do it surely.

Just seen age if reward is special enough eg. chocolate buttons, it worked on DD from 18months. I spent first three years of DDs life battling life threatening infections, hence my detailed knowledge if anyone was wondering.
Final trick if you use a dummy cut a hole in one load with calpol before noticed.

When you really need to give him some, hold his nose and squirt it in as fast as you can. No mucking about. Then a chocolate button afterwards to distract.

It feels harsh, but it gets it down them and if you are swift and business like it will be over so quickly he'll forget all about it. It worked for my calpol-hating DD2, anyway. And now she loves it, so doesn't appear to have been too traumatised!

We've had to go the way of the paracetemol suppositries. Isn't as bad as it sounds and at least you know he's had the right dose. Ds tends to object and then spit it out or throw it up. You can phone your gp for a prescription as they are quite expensive or you can phone around the chemists - not all of them stock it. My ds is 2.3 and we have had a terrible night with him last night with a raging temperature and refusing calpol - so out came the trusty suppositries.By the time he knows whats happening its all over.

Have just found another suggestion - put it in a small amount of jelly and leave to set in a plastic cup?

Calpol will work mixed with food no probs. You don't have to take it on an empty stomach so it'll get mixed with food inside anyway!

Good luck madmartigan I hope your DS gets well soon

I'm afraid it's headlock time... we had to do it at that age with DD.. it was either that or she would end up on IV anti b's and sedation as she wouldn't keep IV in..

Headlock hold mouth open, squirt in, close mouth, rub neck, like you have to do with a dog! It's awful, and you will probably get bitten!
Good Luck, I feel for you, but try not to feel evil, lots of us have had to do it..

I like the ice cream idea. He loves ice cream. He has had a temperature on and off, just non-specific grizzly really. Rang NHS 24 and they said just keep going

Going to Granny and Gramps doctor in a bit, we're away from home.

Had this problem with DD when she had her first course of Antibiotics a couple of weeks ago. Thought she was mad, I loved the banana medicine when I was little but she screamed until her face was blotchy for the first two days.

In the end, I turned it into a game. I'd sit her on the kitchen work surface, pretend she had come to see Nurse Mummy, I'd insist she wore a hospital gown (babygro fastened round her neck to catch the spit out), and then I'd check her eyes, ears, nose etc and tell her that she must have the medicine otherwise I'd have to tickle her bug out of her. Then she'd help me put the medicine back into the fridge and pop the syringe into the sink.

Thanks everyone. Got to get ready for docs, I'll check in later. We're buying chocolate buttons while we're out.

I sympathise, we have been struggling with meds since DS3 was born! (He had them daily since 4 weeks). With calpol etc (he is 2) we put it in his thomas tank yoghurts. Also, look at the packs and buy the one where it is in the lowest amount to get down them, think we got Calprofen last time as getting 2.5ml down is alot easier

We use the infacol pipette as the smaller volumes seem to go down better and less gets spat out.

DS went off his calprofen in his last illness, unfortunately as it was something like an adenovirus that kept spiking his temp. I ended up mixing it with watered ginger ale to get it down him, he needed the fluids anyway.

Afterwards he had to have antibiotics for the ensuing chest infection, which was a pink suspension, so now he expects all his medicine to be pink. If he sees white calprofen, he gets all hissy about it; but I have now added some pink food colouring to the calprofen and he takes it no problem (in a syringe).

Re. squirting it straight in - someone on another thread said to do that slightly to the side, not straight to the back of the throat, to avoid the gag reflex.