To ask if there is a non violent way of getting antibiotics into a toddler

[Katastrophe13]

DD is 1 yo and has tonsillitis and she has been prescribed antibiotic medicine. I have a syringe to shoot it into her mouth with, but she just gargles it then sprays/spits it into my face/all over me. Dr said to hold her nose so she can't breathe and has to swallow it. I've tried but she must be superhuman and is still managing to not swallow most of it/spray me with it. Please can I have your tips on how to get non compliant toddlers to take medicine? Pref before 7.30 when I'm due back in the ring with her for round 3 😥

Put the spoon on their tongue kind of middle and press gently - for a few seconds - tip spoon as they have to swallow - works a treat -

Ha ha ha I love the idea of trying to brush it into their gums, so funny. I've just read the label all the way to the end (I know I should have done this yesterday but sleep deprived from toddler with tonsillitis) and apparently it's meant to be kept in the fridge!! I put it on top of the fridge, which is close but not quite inside...will it have 'gone off'? This isn't going well. Dentinox dummy could be the answer! Am going to google...

Try not to worry too much, it won't have gone off.

I like the dummy idea but a part of me wants you to melt chocolate, add the AB , let it harden, give it to her and report back.

I mix it with a small amount of banana milkshake (20ml) and allow ds(3) to drink it through a straw. He knows it is medicine but as he controls the drinking he will take it, before this he always made himself sick after I got it down by use syringe and holding nose. GP told me mixing is fine but only in a small amount so you can make sure they get the full dose. You can also get a version that contains sugar and tastes much better (probably why we loved it as children!) our GP is happy to give us this one as ds is difficult to get medicine into. Just make sure the pharmacist gives you the right one, they often try to give us sugar free.

I'd stop using the syringe - they can get a bit stuck and squirt out too much in one go. The Calpol syringes are so shit. I just use either a measuring spoon or use a Calpol syringe and squirt it onto a spoon, then give it to DC. Far easier using a spoon.

I always syringed it into the side of the mouth and kept syringe in until they'd swallowed, then quickly followed with a chocolate button (also works on small animals - only with a parsley chaser instead). But I really want you to try the melted chocolate button method.

Have never been able to disguise it in anything (including melted chocolate), putting it in anything usually results in D's refusing that food for ages afterwards.

I wrap in towel/get an assistant to help, squeeze into side of mouth (not too much at a time) and stroke throat, which encourages a swallow. Painkillers have to go up the bum.

Does she have a dummy? We found the dummies that you can fill with medicine fantastic. 1 suck and it's gone - much to their surprise

Does dd have a dummy for comfort? If so, you could use syringe to get ABs down and then stick a dummy in as quick as humanly possible. DD does this with dgd and sucking the dummy calms her down enough to stop the shrieking/spitting/vomiting. It's not 100% reliable I've noticed but pretty good for dgd. It's so hard. dgd goes ballistic with everything from gripe water, calpol, reflux meds, vitamins - everything that isn't food basically. Good luck.

When you're feeding him something on a spoon do one spoon of something normal (either food or something amazing like ice cream ) then next spoonful antibiotic then the following spoonful very quickly of the food so he can't taste it as much

No advice but much sympathy. My eldest was like this - he was maybe 15 months and he had never had medicine before and rarely since but holding him down trying to force it into him while he wailed and kicked and screamed was one of my worst moments as a mum, and made me feel so much for people with really poorly children who have to do this sort of thing (and much worse) all the time

Regarding the medicine dummy - you can do the same with a bottle teat removed from the bottle, just need to be a bit careful the medicine doesn't spill.

Add to milk bottle.

I still remember going absolutely hysterical as a toddler when being forced to take foul-tasting antibiotic, and that has to be 50 years ago. I was in such a state they were pressing cold wet towels on my face to try to calm me down.

Shooting into cheek instead of toward back of throat is your best bet; that is what I have done with pets anyway. Sometimes I wonder if the stress of receiving the medication doesn't amp up inflammation so much that it cancels out the benefit of the antibiotic.

I have to regularly worm and give medications to horses where the 'wrap them in a blanket and sit on them' method is not going to work, so I use operant conditioning. It works brilliantly with animals and children.

Find a reward she likes, stickers might do it, or small pieces of chocolate. Break down the desired action into small parts, e.g. Approach with the syringe, touch her finger to the syringe, touchmouth with the syringe etc. Find the nearest action she will tolerate, e.g. touching the syringe with her finger, do it and reward, repeat a few times, see if the next step will be tolerated. Repeat short sessions often during the day. Generally you should see improvement by the third repetition and there is a good chance she will accept the medicine within a day.

My very weird ds loved antibiotics, the nastier tasting the better, he has eczema and as a baby used to get infected eczema all the time. Dreaded giving him his first lot but he licked his lips and opened his chops for more! Dd however, not a chance! Thankfully so far she X only needed calpol, bit getting it in her and not on me is pretty much impossible!

Hope she feels better soon

I've not rtft but I mixed it with icing sugar and icecream chocolate sauce for the two yr old. For the one yr old I put it in her milk with a spoon od sugar.

Im with WhoDrew here. Just do it.