Toddler with tonsillitis refusing antibiotics

[lunepremiere79]

Hi all, posting here for traffic and hoping to get some advice. My 2.5 yo DD has come down with tonsillitis and got prescribed antibiotics (penicillin) last night but doesn't like the taste and most of it she spits right out. I 've tried the syringe and the spoon, haven't tried the juice yet, but will do later today once I get some. Any other tips for how to entice her to take the medicine? Thanks! x

@heythereamigo

Antibiotics only shorten the course of tonsillitis by between 12-24 hours, so I’ve stopped getting them for my two unless they are properly sick with it. If difflam, calpol and neurofen can keep them going I stick with that.

It’s a good idea to clear up throat infections because they can in some cases lead to permanent kidney damage. As my sister found out when she was travelling many years ago.

I had this issue and tried everything putting into juice to bribing and nothing worked. I went old school and held him down with the syringe squirting it bit by bit on the side of his cheeks and gave him juice to swallow it immediately for 10 bloody days. I felt bad but I knew it was for his benefit and he was back to his normal self within 48 hours.

We had an awful 4x a day course for 10 days when my 1yo had a secondary infection on her lung. It was horrid getting it in her and the antibiotics made her vomit every day. It was bleak. I asked the gp if we could swap but they said we had to persevere. She got so skinny it was just horrid. I’m glad they’ve changed the script. Surely they could come up with a better tasting formula for babies given how important finishing courses is.

DD had a yellow antibiotic liquid, possibly amoxicillin or clarithromycin, which she gobbled down in yoghurt, or by itself actually. She seemed to think it tasted quite nice.

I was once given liquid flucloxacillin as an adult and it is truly vile. I couldn’t take it, it made me physically sick. I don’t know how you’d ever get a toddler to take it.

I never bothered to get antibiotics for my ds.
As long as he was eating, drinking, peeing and pooing and taking paracetamol if he had pain, we waited it out each time.

He has kinda grown out of it now, only has it a couple of times a year now and still doesn’t need antibiotics.
As a previous poster said, antibiotics only reduce the time they have it by 24 hours. I also really worried about antibiotic resistant bugs due to the overuse of them.

If she's not that unwell, I would just ride it out with calpol nurofen and fluids. I say that as a chronic tonsillitis sufferer myself. I made that decision once when my eldest was about 3 when he had antibiotics for an ear infection. I think I tried twice and nothing went down him, we even had 2 adults holding him still while he was pinned in a blanket. I figured it was better to not have any than an incomplete course.

With better tasting medicine and a more compliant younger child I've had luck with:
mixing with Ella's pouches, especially if you can sneak some in and pretend to open it in front of them;
Chocolate petis felus (sp?) or chocolate yogurt
Mixing with abidec vitamin syrup (its basically sugar, but familiar)
Mixing with chocolate milk

And let them watch the most irritating/absorbing/awful kids TV at the same time.

Good luck!

Check with the pharmacist if this is ok (some kinds can't be mixed with food) but you could try mixing with yoghurt or ice cream x

If you've started the course, you must try your best to finish the course. Antibiotic resistance is dangerous and a growing issue due to people not finishing the course of antibiotics prescribed. Sorry, that dosent help your issue, but I've just seen some people saying don't bother with the antibiotics but it's important to not go against medical. Advice without speaking to a professional first. Maybe ask a pharmacist for some advice.

Can you get it as a suppository? One of mine though otherwise compliant just won't take oral medicine so on the (rare) occasions we had to persist, we ended up with suppositories. Apparently the French do that as standard and think we're odd persisting with so much oral mediine!

Sorry just seen your update that you have asked 111 for advice I've more written my post above for people that just decide to stop taking antibiotics without checking first.

Dd3 will not take medicine. Not even calpol. However she can't resist cake. So I always soak the meds into a small piece of cake and she eats that. She's the stubbornest kid ever.

Refusal is not an option.

1. That's how we have antibiotic resistance.

1. That's how infections worsen and could turn into sepsis.

1. There may come a time when a child's life depends upon taking medication.

Admittedly, I hated medicine as a child, but I decided aged 4 that tablets were a lesser evil and demanded those instead. Never had a problem with taking those - I now prefer injections or suppositories to the oral route wherever possible.

I have tried many different methods over the years, the most successful one has been bribery tbh. Yes you can try trickery or force, but a bribe is much more effective. 'Take this and Mummy will give you a lolly' works almost every time

I wish there wasn't this trend for refusing antibiotics for tonsillitis.

My ds had tonsillitis and was refused antibiotics by three GPs.

Then he developed quincy and had to go to hospital. Was very ill.

Tonsillitis can be very serious untreated. It's not always viral. It's a serious bacterial infection in some that can be potentially life threatening.

@madroid

Yes there is a trend for both refusing antibiotics and refusing tonsillectomy. I had Quinsy as a teenager and finally a late tonsillectomy, and now my DC are prone to bad bacterial tonsillitis and ear infections as I was and it feels like for the minority who do have it badly we are just left to suffer. I am not sure what the answer is though.

I'm sorry your little one was so ill that must have been really frightening for you. Is he all better now?

@lunepremiere79

She will happily take Calpol/Nurofen but not the penicillin. It doesn't seem like she is in pain right now, she is playing with toys etc, but I am concerned that we don't be able to finish the 10 day course as prescribed (4 times a day at 5ml)... Not sure it's something to be concerned about or if there is an alternative. Will this clear up on its own?

You can mix it in with calpol

Bacterial tonsillitis isnt just a bad sore throat. I genuinely don't think people understand what it is.. I have had sore throats where my tonsils are swollen and i am ill but just rested and rode it out. Bacterial tonsillitis is v v different and can be very damaging if left to progress

Zinc, echinesa, garlic and anti-bacterial mouthwash -I use all these to ward infections off and me and my dcs dont get it anymore. Touch wood!!!

I’ve mixed the dreaded penicillin with lots of lemon curd before and squirted it in! It’s a horrible tasting medicine but as others say, needs to be taken. Good luck!

@lunepremiere79

Thanks for the tips everyone!

GreenLunchBox I've just called 111 and they prescribed Clarithromycin - crossing fingers this works better!

Yayyyyyy! I'm glad you got through so quickly. Please let us know how you get on

@lunepremiere79

She will happily take Calpol/Nurofen but not the penicillin. It doesn't seem like she is in pain right now, she is playing with toys etc, but I am concerned that we don't be able to finish the 10 day course as prescribed (4 times a day at 5ml)... Not sure it's something to be concerned about or if there is an alternative. Will this clear up on its own?

5ml is nothing. Syringe it in bit by bit, so it’s too small an amount to be able to spit out. Hope she’s feeling better soon. Tonsillitis is awful so I wouldn’t miss giving it her.

I mean it's either get her to take the antibiotics or have her admitted to hospital for iv antibiotics through a cannula. Those are your two options. Just syringe it in. She needs it

@Abitlost2

Bacterial tonsillitis isnt just a bad sore throat. I genuinely don't think people understand what it is.. I have had sore throats where my tonsils are swollen and i am ill but just rested and rode it out. Bacterial tonsillitis is v v different and can be very damaging if left to progress

tonsillitis in most cases does not require treatment. it will go away on it's own after a few day. no matter if the cause is bacterial or viral.

only if it doesn't go away on it's own after 3-4 days or if the patient can't drink or has breathing issues with the infection should a gp consider treatment with antibiotics.
usually symptomatic treatment (pain relief) and rest it all it takes to help your body recover from an infection.

gp's sadly are often too quick to prescribe antibiotics. even if they are not (yet) needed or would not work (viral infection).

There isn’t a ‘trend’ for refusing antibiotics.
There is a place for clinical risk scores (see CENTOR or FEVERPAIN) safety netting appropriately and not prescribing if not clinically indicated at that time.

It sounds like for some tonsillitis is a mild illness, even if it's bacterial?

For my DC, across 2 of them as toddlers it's been a sudden onset really serious illness that has had us sent to hospital by the GP and spending 6 plus hours there until they were sure the antibiotics were helping (their throats were so bad they'd stopped drinking, with fevers over 40 C and elevated heart and breathing rates). I find it hard to believe they would really have got better within a day or two without the antibiotics as suggested by some posters?