To (internally) lose my shit trying to get meds into 4YO and need all the best tips

[Bugsymalonemumof2]

4 year old had adenoidtonsillectomy Monday. Treated with IV fluids Monday night and Tuesday night due to not drinking. Given big course of antibiotics due to persistent low grade fever (still present 5 days later). She won't eat or drink which is almost certainly because these antibiotics are so utterly vile she won't take them and because I forced those in she now won't take Calpol or neurofen. So not only is she not getting her antibiotic she has no pain relief. She has had about 125ml of water and a small bowl of ice cream today and weed once since 1.30am last night.

I need some solutions for an in pain and extremely unreasonable 4 year old who also has ASD...

Antibiotic needs to be taken on an empty stomach (and is vile in all fairness to DD). can't disguise it in yoghurt or ice cream as she will then refuse even ice cream.

As for pain relief, I tried to just force it in and she spurred it back out like a whale.

Any tips?

Ds who has autistic tendencies and sensory issues as part of the genetic condition he has, is a nightmare with meds. With paracetamol when he was younger we had to use suppositories, then that became undoable and now we have some success with Calpol melts (it is 1 tablet at age 6-9 and we halved a tablet at around 4, which I would dissolve in a few drops of water which i then mixed with nutella)

With antibiotics we have had more success with tablets crushed then mixed in nutella

Everything pretty much goes in nutella here.

Is it flucloxacillin? My DD had to have it four times a day for 5,5 months, I don’t know how she coped.

It also comes in tablets, would it be easier to get the tablets, open them up and disguise their taste in something else?

Dd refused medicines at that age - when she had scarlet fever I used junior disprol in a fruit shoot - worth a try?

@Booboostwo Yes, flucoxacillin is evil. The day he tolerated tablets was such a huge relief!!!

She can't cope with drinking anything other than water, my usual go to of chocolate milk is out and she has barely had water either.

My only worry about mixing it in with ice cream is that if she notices then she will stop eating that and that's the only thing going in

Ds who has asd was a medicine refuser. Only antibiotics as they taste vile. Was fine with Calpol etc.

One day I just put his dose of pink penicillin in a glass of chocolate milk and said no more. Masked the taste brilliantly and he gulped it down. didn't even mention the antibiotics. He just thought I was being an amazingly cool mum with chocolate milk 3 times a day.

Another tip I've heard is to give an ice lolly beforehand as the cold slightly numbs the taste buds and lessens the taste.

Phone the hospital you were discharged from for advice they should have given you a number in your discharge paperwork after her operation. She sounds dehydrated and needs to be seen by a doctor.

Oh just realised you said chocolate milk won't work... Ignore me!

How are you doing? That stuff is vile & has a really long aftertaste. I almost think it would be better without the artificial flavour over the top.

Would she take it herself? Like you give her control of the syringe?

I think you might have to go back if not, she does sound v dry.

Umm it’s obvious isn’t it? Hold her down and squirt the syringe of antibiotics into her inner cheek. She won’t choke and they go down. It’s what I have to do every time my daughter gets sick

We had this disgusting stuff at age about 2 and found jam worked - 50/50 - the jam is strong enough tasting it isn't quite so unpleasant.

Umm it’s obvious isn’t it? Hold her down and squirt the syringe of antibiotics into her inner cheek. She won’t choke and they go down. It’s what I have to do every time my daughter gets sick

If only it was that easy. That is what the nurses in hospital tried with DS and they ended up covered in it (that was with 2 of them pinning a 2 year old child down).

He had to have a cannula until we managed to get him eating yoghurt with small amounts of antibiotics disguised in them.

We found a curly straw in whatever liquid we could fail to disguise the AB in. Actually two curly straws.

Children find it much harder to spit out medicine with their mouth open.

Lay child on floor
Hold head between your thighs with their arms under your legs.

Squirt medicine into their no doubt screaming mouth and leave the syringe in until they swallow.

Medicine refusing toddlers is shit.

It's all well and good doing that but a) she will just throw up b) I can't have her screaming too much if I don't want her wounds in her throat to end up bleeding

She has an out of hours appointment in 90 minutes. She slept 16 hours and is utterly beside herself

Oh no, poor little girl. How difficult for you both.

Keep in mind that if it is flucloxacillin, IV is very very painful. You may not have an option but get the hospital’s pain team involved with possible solutions (gas and air?).

So we have switched to doing her antibiotics through the iv after she had some fluids. Have to go in daily but st least she gets them.

Get home, notice DS who is 2 has a massive temperature.. he has tonsilitis and is now on antibiotics. Definitely one of those if I didn't laugh I'd cry moments 😂

I am glad that worked! Hope she’s not too upset by the IV.

What bad luck! Sometimes it’s just one thing after another. Hang in there!

We had this with DS. Only thing that worked was Lego. Seriously boxes and boxes of Lego. Cost a bloody fortune. Bit got the much needed meds in him.
I am a bad mummy. But it worked.

Sounds like you’ve solved one issue and now have another- good job fixing some of it!

When my 2 year old had to have antibiotics I had to bribe with new toys every sodding dose. My god it was fucking awful and nearly bankrupted me.