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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

DS won’t take medicine!

40 replies

ColumnofFire · 14/06/2022 15:26

DS is 5 & has been prescribed antibiotics (strawberry flavoured medicine). I’m really struggling to encourage him to take it, it’s taking up to an hour for him to finally have it & then he’s nearly puking & getting himself in a right state (he says it tastes disgusting).
He has to take it on an empty stomach too, so the longer he takes to have the medicine the longer he has to wait to eat.
It’s stressing me out. He could go back to school as he’s feeling much better, but I don’t think he’ll have the medicine there either & can’t imagine the teacher will be able to spend that sort of time trying to get him to have it.
AIBU to just pin him down force it in with a syringe? I feel awful but can’t cope with hours of coaxing, I don’t have the patience.
I’ve tried explaining that he won’t get better without the medicine but that just upsets him & makes him hysterical!
Any tips?

OP posts:
Hadalifeonce · 14/06/2022 15:29

This will probably sound weird, could you try just dropping onto his lips when he us asleep? There might be a natural licking reaction.

DenholmElliot1 · 14/06/2022 15:31

I would just administer it covertly, in food or drink.

I know you said it needs to be taken on an empty stomach, but taking it on a full stomach is better than not taking it at all.

ForestFae · 14/06/2022 15:32

Don’t do that - it will traumatise him. I was held down for a cannula at 3 and I developed a huge fear of blood tests and hospitals ever since that I still struggle with, although less so - I struggled with it badly until I was 24.

Ask if there’s a different type of medicine he can have. My DS used to refuse any oral meds (sensory issues, he’s autistic) but was weirdly okay with suppositories, so my GP used to prescribe parcetamol suppositories to use instead of calpol! There’s usually an alternative available if a child can’t tolerate something.

lanthanum · 14/06/2022 15:35

Syringe and then a square of chocolate - I think that's what we ended up with. He needs to know that he has to finish the bottle, even if he feels better.
Putting it in child-friendly terms: there might only be one nasty germ left inside him, which is why he feels better, but that one is the one that's best at fighting the antibiotics. If it survives, it will multiply, and then he might end up with a whole new bunch of germs which are all good at fighting the antibiotics. So then he'd need to take even more medicine the next time, and probably even nastier-tasting.
Talk to the school about him going back - he might be fine because kids are more inclined to do as they're told without tantrumming in school - and if not, presumably you could go and collect him.

Littlemissprosecco · 14/06/2022 15:39

Mix it into ice cream

yikesanotherbooboo · 14/06/2022 15:52

He is old enough to reason with and bribe. Tinies have to be held down sometimes for their own good but by 5 that is very difficult. In many ways it is an assault so you only enforce in if it is essential.Having made the decision that it is essential however you have to find a way to make it happen.Most liquid medicines taste awful so it is really helpful when they are old enough for tablets.I have had to give one DC a lot of medicines so it made me think about this a lot. I rarely used calpol or antibiotics in any of them as almost all infectious illnesses in DC are viral and / or self limiting and having a temperature is part of the immune response and doesn't usually need treatment.Once in a while though they need something and then you have to steel yourself. I am aware that this becomes more difficult if your child is not NT.

LookItsMeAgain · 14/06/2022 15:57

Some might disagree with my methods but I don't agree with mixing it in with icecream or other foodstuffs as it might actually get turned around that something they do like, when the anti-biotic is added, makes the child dislike it.

At age 5, they are able to understand that feeling unwell is not nice. Ask your 5 yr old, do they want to stay feeling unwell. They won't get better if they don't take their medicine. Mummy and Daddy have to take medicine when they aren't well (be that a headache or something else) and they feel better once they've had the medicine. If you have a syringe, place it so that the spout is quite near the back of their throat so the natural reflex is to swallow, not gag and bring it back up again.
I do agree with the suggestion that it is followed by something nice for them to eat/drink (doesn't have to be loads of it, just enough to keep the medicine on the journey to make them better). Then have their dinner/lunch/whatever ready shortly afterwards.

When my kids were little, I used to measure out the dose and give it to them via a medicine dispensing soother. We use whatever methods get the child well again (within reason of course). I'm not suggesting that you pin the child down to do it.

rainbowflump · 14/06/2022 16:01

Get some sprinkles and let him sprinkle them onto the medicine on the spoon

3amAndImStillAwake · 14/06/2022 16:06

What antibiotic is it? If you really can't get him to take it, I'd be asking for something else because if he's just taking small amounts, vomiting it up etc then that's not helping and whatever infection he has will be getting worse.

If it's flucloxacillin then that truly is beyond disgusting and I'm not surprised he won't take it.

ScarlettOHaraHamiltonKennedyButler · 14/06/2022 16:10

Bribe him with something he likes. Chocolate? Ice Cream? Screen Time? All that matters is that he takes it.

Unanananana · 14/06/2022 16:17

Medicine is not optional in our house. I have wrapped a screaming kid in a bath towel and syringed antibiotics/calpol to the back of the throat many a time. My two are older now but stopped resisting around 5/6 years old as it was more hassle than its worth to refuse, especially when it makes them feel better.

If you need to be gentle, PPs suggestion of explaining and bribery with a square of chocolate sounds like the best idea. My GP would probably laugh at me if I told them my kid was refusing and would tell me to force them. Yours may be different.

zingally · 14/06/2022 16:34

Bribery.

I was also a kid who was a terrible medicine-taker. Whatever it was, I'd refuse. In the end, mum would keep a tub of chocolate buttons on top of the fridge, and if I took my medicine, I'd get a bag. Chocolate was a big treat in my house growing up, so a bag of buttons was top-tier currency!

Of my two kids, my DS is a terrible medicine taker as well. I bribe him with whatever little thing is his top-tier currency, and it works!

Mangogogogo · 14/06/2022 16:35

I was a forcer too! My son has a bowel disorder so it was absolutely non negotiable. Like pp they stop resisting very very quickly.

and they are absolutely not traumatised and take tablets now they’re heading towards teens no problem

Bubblesandsqueak1 · 14/06/2022 17:32

I used to hide then in little alien drinks you get at the corner shop i snapped the top off syringed into bottle shake and pretended to open it in front of him worked every time

bbqhulahoop · 14/06/2022 17:32

Penicillin right? It's strawberry flavoured but still tastes like mould. My baby has just finished another course. At start of the week I had to hold her nose until she opened her mouth and syringe it into her cheek but she got used to it quickly enough. It's foul tasting tho so can't blame them!

Sirzy · 14/06/2022 17:33

If he is feeling much better I would contact the GP in the morning and explain he is improving but refusing the antibiotic and they may say his body is fighting it without needing them.

Original poster
ColumnofFire · 14/06/2022 17:41

Thanks everyone! It’s phenoxymethyl penicillin that he’s on, it’s strawberry flavoured but not a nice after taste. I managed to coax him into having it off the spoon yesterday, he kept taking tiny mouthfuls & washed it down with loads of juice, it took a while but he was really pleased with himself afterwards. He had some (reluctantly) when he got up this morning, But he absolutely refused his 2nd dose & no amount of bribery worked. I was getting stressed out & impatient with him because he kept knocking the spoon & spilling it everywhere, so I don’t think that helped & it made him worse.
I’ll try again at bedtime - calm, happy, full of praise, chocolate buttons if he has the medicine…& if I’m still at it after 30 mins it’ll have to be the syringe I think (& I’ll ask for something different tomorrow).
Hes we’ll enough for school tomorrow & they’ve said they can give him the medicine or I can go in & give it to him - I think he’ll be even worse at school with it though!

OP posts:
Paddingtonsmarmlade · 14/06/2022 17:41

bribery, give him a drink to wash it down and then his favourite food/chocolate/sweets

Paddingtonsmarmlade · 14/06/2022 17:42

Oh and use a calpol syringe to reduce spillage and get it down quick

Sirzy · 14/06/2022 17:46

syringes all the way much easier than a syringe as your more in control.

but if push comes to shove blanket and bear hug while you get it in

Original poster
ColumnofFire · 14/06/2022 17:46

I’m not keen on mixing it with food because he’s a fussy eater & I don’t want to put him off anything he currently likes. Plus if he doesn’t eat it all I wouldn’t know how much medicine he’s had, so bit wary of that.
I honestly think we’ll end up being late to school because he’ll take so long with the medicine!

OP posts:
FatAgainItsLettuceTime · 14/06/2022 17:49

Agreeing with the masses. Agree with him that if he just swallows it quick and without a fuss he gets chocolate. No one wants their kid eating chocolate 3 times a day but whatever gets the job done in this case so he gets the medicine.

Mally100 · 14/06/2022 17:51

Bribery. It will work. Give him a piece of chocolate or screen time while he is drinking it.

bbqhulahoop · 14/06/2022 17:51

Honestly OP, it's foul. Not as bad as flucoxacillin but v bad- have a tiny taste. It also upsets their tummies bless them. We're so lucky to have antibiotics I know, but their side effects are hard for little ones!

JofraArchersFastestBall · 14/06/2022 17:59

My 4yo is a very adamant medication refuser. He had a recent stay in hospital for bad cellulitis and the only way I could get him to take the medication (paracetamol, and then antibiotics once he was switched onto oral ones) was to get it in a syringe and let him do it himself. Followed by a lollipop! I think he mostly hated not being in control of it.

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