To force my child to take medicine...

[WankingMonkey]

I have not done this. But this is the advice of the doctor

So yesterday my son was given antibiotics for a strep infection. He took the first dose, then realised how vile it was (and it is vile, I tried a little to see). When it was time for his next dose he saw the medicine and ran from me. I eventually got him to take a little but that was it.

I called the doctors back today to ask if they have any other kind of the medicine as it says sugar free on the bottle so I thought they might possibly have a nicer tasting version. Doctor says no. She told me to try hiding it in yoghurts, bribing him with a piece of chocolate if he takes it, and so on. I have tried these and he clicks on straight away about it being hidden in food/drink and point blank refuses to take it for treats. So the final advice the doctor gave was to 'pin him down and force it down him' which sounds fucking horrendous.

She says he really has to finish his course. And a minute or two discomfort is worth it to make him better, which I sort of agree with but I just don't think I can bring myself to actually force medicine down his throat...won't that make him sick? He will hate me too.

I don't know what to do here, and any other advice is very welcome

[whereonthestair]

Unborn, yes yes yes. DS was also a nicu baby, and also had loads of interventions as a baby. And is an absolute medicine refuser as a result. Meh hates everything, including Calpol, and every AB we've tried. He had neurosurgery and we took hours getting him off the ward as he wouldn't take Calpol for pain relief (he definitely preferred iv morphine and Iv paracetamol).


Now we are told very firmly never to force anything, and no hcp will either as DS has a right to refuse and we are in a vicious circle. So if you have reason to fear medicine might be a repeat issue be careful what you do as forcing DS has been a mistake as he has got older. He'd rather have surgery than any medicine, including surgey with no pain relief!

[steppemum]

OP - my dd recently had the same AB. She is 9, and the pharmacist said 'give her a dose with breakfast and then spread the other 3 between coming home from school and bedtime'

I was a bit surprised, but I also remember that when I was a kid Mum would have to set an alarm and wake us up to take ABs spread evenly throuhg the 24 hours, and since then the advice has changed and you can spread it over the waking hours.

If that is fine, then it would also be fine to spread it over sleeping hours and syringe it in when he is sleeping.

It is seriously nasty tasting medicine. I cannot understand why it wouldn't be ok to add a bit of sugar/flavouring to take the edge off, as other said calpol has it. Aged 9, dd struggled to take it, water bottle and sweet at the ready.

[lozzylizzy]

Ive had to pin my boy for preschool boosters whilst he kicked my shins. Expert at the medicine syringe now hahaha

[Cakescakescakes]

If you hold his nose for a millisecond after you squirt the medicine into his mouth then it stimulates a swallow reflex so should minimise spitting out. I have a son with a ASD who has had antibiotics 11 times in 2 yrs (for a recurrent issue) and every single dose has required me putting him in a version of a headlock with his legs between by legs and syringing the medicine in. It is horrific but he doesn't understand and really really needs to take it all. Stay as calm as you can and just power through!

[MiscellaneousAssortment]

Wrap him in a towel (like a cat!), force in the medicine then dangle a very favourite treat-y sweet in front of his nose... he has to swallow to get the sweet! Has to be done literally as soon as the medicines gone in and whilst he's still gripped tight, so he can't reach for it and spit, he has to swallow to open mouth for the sweetie. Then loads and loads of praise and cuddles. Done quickly and efficiently is far better than half arsed attempts whee he has time to panic and you wilt with the horror of his reaction!

Goes against so many of my original parenting beliefs but when it comes down to it, this is a utterly shite bit of being a parent. The buck stops with you, nannys, aunties and grand parents get to give in and say oh poor little thing, you have to get it done because there's no one else to do it!

My DS was admitted to hospital as he wouldn't take the penicillin prescribed and therefore became much poorlier. He was 3.5 and I was on my own, and wasn't strong enough to pin him down, andnot enough arms to hold his whole body and have an arm free for the medicine. His nanny was crap and did a weedy 'ooh I can't, it's too mean' squeak, which was rather irritating at the time, still am
really. Ffs, what's mean and cruel is not being responsible enough to give a little child the essential medicine he needs so he doesn't end up in hospital!

The iv had to be bandaged on so tight as he was so determined to rip it out, so a syringe in the corner of his mouth was nothing compared. And there was holding down when needed. It was horrible but needed. Although he was so poorly by the time he was admitted he didn't fight much.

Anyway, 48 hrs later and he was jumping around like a frog and he recovered fine.

And I developed a 'knees on his arms, sitting on his chest technique, putting aside the feeling of guilt and torturing... though he was never as bad as that firsttime and is now perfectly bribable!

[WankingMonkey]

Well after the ordeal last night, DH is back this morning...he put it in a cup of tea (DS loves tea...) added sugar (he doesn't usually have sugar) and he downed the lot.

Seems its gunna be 4 cups of tea a day for the next 10 days but needs be..

So glad we seem to have found a way to do this without forcing as it broke my heart doing that last night.

Might get some coke in later and try that too as not sure he will actually drink 4 cuppas a day

MNHQ..I got much better advice on here than I got from the actual GP who didn't tell me exactly HOW to do it...just pin him down and force it

[thedicewoman]

I had this same thing and amazingly when i went back to the doctor there was in fact a better tasting version, but it was more expensive...

[Keepkondoing]

Unborn - it may be why you have medicine refusers but I have two, neither was in NICU, ds who is now 8 is he one I had to force antibiotics down, he will now take all medicine if he needs to - even grim cough medicine! Dd 6, has refused medicine since she was a baby she gags and is often sick all of the times she has tried. She hasn't needed AB's so I never forced her and she still refuses to take anything! Sometimes I think some are more sensitive to taste than others.

[Igottastartthinkingbee]

Glad you've found a peaceful way to get it down him OP. Fingers crossed he doesn't rumble you!

[Keepkondoing]

Is should add dd (6) would also rather have medicine in her arm (injection) than take a spoonful of calpol!!!

[BiddyPop]

Elvish If you are around, what anti-b's can you get in tablet form for u-12s? DD (11) is great at taking tablets but has occasionally needed anti-b's for throat and ear infections (she is prone to those) and even on the most recent; I could only get the liquid version despite asking. Apparently they are not available in the correct doses for smaller sized people (I know - the dose is to do with bodyweight not age - we may in fact end up with liquid versions longer than most as DD is quite physically small for her age).

Money I am only on page 1 yet so you may be sorted, but we found using the syringe they provide in the package and squirting it to the back of DD's mouth was a way to get it and painkillers into DD when she was small and not keen on medecines. (See above - prone to ear and throat infections so we are very used to it!).

[mediocremumatherbest]

Sorry but you have to go what you have to do. These parts of parenting aren't great but you haven't got much choice, unless you want him to get worse and end up in hospital with doctors prodding and poking away at him. He won't hate you... for long anyway.

[mediocremumatherbest]

When you hold him down squirt it into his cheek rather than towards the back of his throat too, doctor told me it stops them being able to spit it out.

[Ollivander84]

Maybe try a hot chocolate as well if he will take it in tea? Or something properly grim sweet like lucozade

[CottonSock]

My baby does this if its the 'nice' medicine. God help me if she ever needs a yukky one.

[gameofchance]

Please don't squirt medicine at the back of your child's throat. They can actually choke if you do this and is often the reason they may gag /spit out the medicine. Aim the syringe at the cheek

[blackteasplease]

Decaff tea any good to you?

[UnbornMortificado]

Thanks Keep I was just curios.

Did they used to taste more pleasant a decade ago? I can't remember having this much chew on with DD1 but I could just have blocked it out.

[itsonlysubterfuge]

I've held DD down, it was most unpleasant. Once she realized that she was going to get held down if she didn't do it, she took it, even though there was a lot of upset.

You could try explaining to him that he has to take them to make him feel better and if he takes it nicely, he can have a sweet/chocolate afterwards, but if he doesn't take it nicely you will have to force him to take it and he will get no sweet/chocolate.

[kirstxx]

Might feel horrible but it is important to completely finish the course of antibiotics. We're moving ever closer to a world without them due to the bacteria becoming resistance to antibiotics which means in the near future we could be facing people becoming extremely ill with infections we easily treat at the moment. And of course for your child's health too.

If they are cottoning on to you hiding it in their food you could try dividing the dose between a yoghurt and milkshake or something along those lines?

[BarbieBrightSide]

Sorry I haven't RTFT but I remember this situation clearly when mine were younger.

I used to get round it with chocolate buttons - 1 in first to get the chocolate taste, then medicine from a syringe, then 2 after to take the taste away.

The other thing I did was draw a chart with cartoon bugs on, so some spiky, some round, some square etc, with zig zag mouths. I drew enough for all of the doses of medicine. Each time ds had a dose he could cross one out with a felt tip pen. Is your ds old enough to get that the bugs are making him ill and he needs medicine to make the bugs go away?

The thing with doing a chart is that you can cross some off already for the doses that he's already had and as time goes on he will see the numbers getting less. Also it hopefully helps to get the message across that the yucky medicine is only for a short time, not forever.

I feel your pain, the 4 times a day even spread (on an empty stomach?) is ridiculously hard with young children.

[MimsyFluff]

When DD3 was 18 months she spent a week in hospital i was showed how to give her the antibiotics before we went home basically holding her whole body with one arm and syringe. Was terrible i hated it

[ihatefaircity]

My sympathies! I know how hard it is to get medicine into a young child. I am a mum of 3 & a children's nurse also. I know you feel horrible but remember you have to do this and are doing him good in the long run. The doctor wouldn't have prescribed a/b if it wasn't really necessary. I would say maybe use syringe into the back side of the mouth. Hold his chin until he swallows. Have a sweet/ yogurt or treat ready for him and distract him with activity/ tv so he's not focusing on it. It is hard but has to be done. The important thing to remember is that it is so important to finish the course even if symptoms have disappeared & try to get all doses in if possible otherwise the infection may come back even more ferocious than before.

[MimsyFluff]

Posted to soon! Was terrible I hated it but by day 5 of 10 she got the hang of it luckily!

DD1 has the taste buds of a god she can taste everything! Glad you've found a way to hide the taste

[mediocremumatherbest]

Gameofchance choking is an obstruction of the airways, something lodged in the throat. Spitting/gagging on something isn't the same as choking.