DS won’t take medicine!

[ColumnofFire]

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?

This.

Mix it with enough icing sugar that it's essentially nearly solid. Helps the awful taste!

@ForestFae genuine question what do you think they should have done for 3 year old you who was clearly unwell if you needed a Canula? Just wait to see if the infection went to sepsis or?

I don’t think there was much they could have done in that scenario, what I was saying it it’s better to see if they can switch to another medication or method first before going for the hold them down route. In my case I think it was just unfortunate and there wasn’t anything else they could’ve done.

Messing about negotiating for an hour and being upset/distressed for that length of time is worse than just doing what is necessary and getting it over and done with and forgotten about in a couple of minutes.
If bribes work then chocolate or ice cream 3 times a day for a week is no big deal in the grand scheme of things if that's the bribe needed.
Failing that, bundle, administer, treat/bribe and cuddle and over and done with. Another household where medicine is non negotiable. We agree it is yukky and sympathise but it is taken without much fuss and compensated for with a marshmallow usually.

Syringe is easier than spoon in these cases, and my DC who have hated the taste of medicine would now say they prefer it in a syringe (over quickly, back of throat bypassing taste buds) than a spoon. It does feel awful to basically force it but like a PP I found the prolonged negotiation and drama was worse for everyone and they soon stopped once they realised this was a totally non-negotiation zone.

I bet they've taken all the sugar out of the formulation and stuffed it with disgusting sweeteners, and that won't be helping. Can you add sugar or honey or something and then let him chase it down rapidly with a really nice drink or ice-cream? What's his favourite?

I was in exactly this situation last week with the same medicine. I tried everything and more but there was no getting it down her. Resorted to the ‘wrapping her in a bath towel and forcing it in’ method and still got most of it spat back at me or dribbled out of the side of her mouth. I was at my wits end and honestly thought we would end up in hospital on a drip. She wouldn’t even take calpol / nurofen. In the end the doctors prescribed amoxicillin as an alternative to try and amazingly she likes the taste of that one - it’s bright yellow, maybe banana flavour? She’s now a bit disappointed that we’ve finished the course and wants me to buy more!!
I would definitely suggest you ask the docs if this could be appropriate for your child. Good luck.

We're pretty much the same. We don't give medicine willy nilly so when it's needed it's really needed, so we get the job done. It can be really hard though, especially if they're really ill so I can sympathise! We recently ended up mixing meds into strawberry/banana smoothie and that worked to some degree. 😅

Penicillin was the absolute worst when I was a kid and I remember those evenings of sitting at the dinner table with a little cup full of disgusting pink liquid in front of me. God it was rank. I would have thought that they could have changed the flavour by now!

Thanks everyone! I totally agree that all the negotiations & faffing about for hours must be more traumatic for him, we’ve had more tears today than I’ve ever seen before! It has worked eventually (I.e. he’s been persuaded to have the medicine of a spoon), but it just takes a ridiculously long time - he’s distressed, I’m tearing my hair out, the medicine schedule is out of the window given how long it takes to administer. He’s supposed to be having it 4x a day but we’re only managing 3.
However the mere sight of the syringe had him shaking & screaming in fear, & I just couldn’t bring myself to physically get hold of him & do it, he was absolutely petrified at the thought!
So I don’t know. I’m definitely going to ring the GP again tomorrow & see if it can be swapped to something else, but I do think I’ll have exactly the same problem…
I don’t know what to do about school tomorrow. He’s well enough to go, but if he won’t have the medicine in the morning we’ll be late, & I’m dreading the thought of having to go into school to give it.

Is it supposed to be 5mls or 10mls x 4 times a day?
If it's say 10mls and you're getting it in to him 3 times a day, can you increase the dosage amount so he's getting 13 or 14 mls x 3 times a day?
Or if it's 5mls x 4 times can you increase the amount so that it's 7mls x 3 times a day?
I'm only suggesting that so that he is still getting the required daily amount just in fewer doses?

Dosages are designed to give optimum benefit. If it’s really being that badly compromised then you need to contact your gp again.
maybe a pharmacist will have the magic answers?

Not meant as a criticism, but It sounds like you can’t step up and stay in control.…… he’s picking up on all of that and you’re adding fuel to the fire by allowing it to go on for so long.

At his age you can sit him down and explain to him why he needs it, the end result, this is how we’re going to do it - end of.

Decide on 1 method and stick to it. I agree the syringe is easier - fill it with water and show him how it works - he could be hearing syringe and thinking there’s an actual needle in there 🤷‍♀️

Assuming he has no additional needs then you need to just step up. Sorry if that’s blunt but we’re often too namby pamby these days. (Been there myself and learned the hard way)

Do not change the dose without consulting the pharmacist. The volumes and number of doses are designed for that medicine to be of maximum benefit based on the amount absorbed, how long it stays in the system, how long it takes for the liver to break it down, how much the liver breaks down at one time and how much is left in the system to actually work!

I also think you need to be a lot firmer, but in a nice way if possible.

Give him the syringe to play with in the bath and teach him how to squirt water through it to get him over the needle fear.

Get him to hold his nose when you give the medicine as it really cuts down on the taste.

Then he has to take it, even if you have to hold him firmly, 5 seconds and it's all over.