aibu to force amoxicillin down 3yr old dd?

[appealtakingovermylife]

Posting here for traffic as am desperate
Dd is 3.5, been to doctors today as she was wheezy/coughing and generally unwell, started over the weekend with a cold.

Doctor said she has a nasty chest infection and prescribed amoxicillin. I told him that we've had terrible trouble in the past, getting dd to take this.

He said that is what she needs and I got it from chemist.
As predicted, dd was hysterical when she saw it, I tried to reason with her as she understands and talks very well, but no getting through.

So I put her on my knee and tried to get it in her mouth via a syringe which we use for calpol etc but she spat most of it out.
Tried hiding it in a yoghurt just now and she had 1 spoon and refused to eat it.
She is also refusing to drink anything unless I hover over her and make sure she does. Normally loves her juice and water so getting worried.

Any tips please?
Thanks if you've got this far:)

You know when people say you shouldn't use sweets and chocolate as rewards?

Yeah. That's bollocks. I'd be breaking out the chocolate buttons, myself.

sticker chart
toy if she finishes the course
minimum fuss and a no nonsense 'have your medicine'
plastic sheeting everywhere

I used to give mine a dose in her sleep which worked

good luck xxx

Yes I have gently but very firmly pinned down my toddlers and syringed antibs into their mouth. (Aim for the back of their cheek rather than down their throat). It's takes less than 10 seconds and they get a huge cuddle and a sweetie afterwards.

I don't want to be messing about with antibs.

I had exactly the same problem with my 4yo ds! It's horrible isn't it!
The only thing that worked was putting his meds in his drinks

'swaddle' in a blanket (to stop her hitting out/pulling your arm away) cuddle her close, lots of nice reassurance and then just squirt it into her cheek.

Then lots of praise and a few buttons afterwards.

I am pretty sure buttons were invented for such circumstances

You know when people say you shouldn't use sweets and chocolate as rewards?

People say that? Dear lord, I am screwed!

I also think this isn't the time to be messing around, OP. Chest infections can be very serious. Do whatever you have to do, just explain why you're doing it, over and over, and soothe with a chocolate button or a few smarties.

Agree to choc buttons. Maybe one before and one after. Hopefully choc taste will mask the taste.
Do they only do one flavour? Could you possibly switch bottles into an empty calpol bottle?
I'd aim syringe at back of cheek too as they tend to gag if directed at throat and spit the whole lot back out.

Oh dear, poor you and your poor DD - amoxycillin is not pleasant. (Not as bad as infant erythromycin, though - DS is allergic to the various penicillins. I tried hiding it in yoghurt and actually licked the spoon - I could still taste it 15 minutes later - it's the bitterest taste I've ever encountered. I don't think there's anything could disguise the taste.)

The paedeatrician said one safe restraint hold (admittedly this was with an 18month old rather than a 3 year old) was to lie them on the floor, and pin them by gently putting your legs over their arms, then syringe. Good luck - it feels so horrible doing it to them, but if they need the antibiotics there's no choice, sadly.

I am a fan of pinning down, no chat and syringe straight into back of the cheek. Worked like a charm and he now takes his meds without any complaint, so I only had to do it about 5 times.

DS is only 17 months but we had terrible trouble getting antibiotics down him when he had an ear infection. We ended up holding him down and squirting the syringe into his cheek, then massaging his throat to keep him from spitting it out. Antibiotics are to important to just leave IMO.

Don't they spit it out if you syringe into the cheek? One of mine choked when I forced her to try to swallow it, although she was still tongue-tied at the time, I went back to the drs, told them I had tried everything and they gave me a different antibiotic which isn't amoxillin, I can't remember if it was a tablet with powder in or just a different liquid. That yellow stuff is hideous.

The holding down, wrapping up and squirting in works with cats if you are prepared to hold their jaws together, but as I say, one of mine choked quite badly and it was very frightening, I wouldn't force medicine down a child like that in all honesty, waiting for her to clear enough to start breathing was terrible.

I wasn't clear- I did wrap her up and force it down, she then choked on it, during which most of the medicine came up and she then vomited. Our dr was very sympathetic when I returned red-faced to admit I couldn't get a three year old to take their medicine.

Ds is a serial medicine refuser, we had success in getting amoxicillin in him by hiding in hipp organic banana custard. The sickly sweetness of it seems to hide the taste. Other than that, swaddle, squirt, water to drink and buttons!!

Our Dr described a diff one for us after my 2year old grabbed the bottle and poured it into the bin-such was his hatred.
Took next kind with no bother.

I'm pro pin them down too. Good luck OP

Sorry OP but pin her down, and then give her a decent amount of chocolate afterwards.

I have a lot of sympathy. DD was 3 when we finally got her to take the stuff - and she also had a chest infection. Previous attempts, when she had infected eczema, had failed. It is easy to say pin them down but she was strong and any attempt at using the syringe resulted in her gagging and throwing up - and I mean proper projectile vomiting.

For us it was a case of reasoning (do this or else you will end up in hospital on your own without mummy and daddy), and reward (lots of chocolate). The stuff is so vile that I found there was no point trying to hide it in anything else - taste it mixed with chocolate mousse and see for yourself.

I also found it much easier for nursery staff to administer it, so I tried to time as many doses as possible for when she was in nursery - even if this meant some doses were closer together than they should have been.

Another friend managed to get the doc to prescribe something else when her (by then seriously ill) DS continued to refuse to take it.

I used to shoot it straight down the back of the throat and give a freddo. Worked well with my banana hating dd1

I will pin down if necessary but have also had some success with putting the liquid into a 1 ml syringe and then doing a tiny bit into cheek immediately followed by shoving a spoon of ice cream in, before a chance to spit out. Repeat ad infinitum. If I was taking the medicine I wouldn't go for this at all, it just seems like prolonging the agony, but whatever it takes...

I also fail to understand the logic of pretty much all liquid antibiotics being sugar free. Yes, I know there are risks of dental caries, but a) the number of children having prolonged or very frequent antibiotics are relatively small compared to the number having sporadic short courses and b) I'm sure I end up using far more sugar to bribe the vile stuff in than there would have been in a nicely flavoured sugary variety.

Blow in her face while you squeeze the syringe...sounds silly but there is a reflex action when you do this to a baby/small child. If they have a mouthful of medicine at the time then they swallow it!

Sounds weird but I give my dd medicine when shes in the bath as it goes everywhere. Use a syringe not spoon and ice lolly ice cream afterwards.

Never used ABs for either of mine and they've had their fair share of chest/ear/throat infections. Pain relief, fluids and rest and their body does the rest.

...unless it doesn't, in which case they end up seriously ill

It DD (same age) I put the chocolate button down on the table and tell her, "after medicine". She will eventually volunteer. That and the fact that she has a doctor kit, a Doc McStuffins doll and says she will be a doctor. Sometimes bringing that up helps.