Tips for giving antibiotics

[LittlePink]

My 2 yr old has been given antibiotics for impetigo and I have to give them 4 times a day for 7 days. The first dose was a disaster and she spat it out everywhere. Do you have any tips for giving antibiotics successfully to a very wriggly toddler?

Nurofen/calpol syringe, if you squirt it from the cheek as opposed to from the tongue, they tend to swallow it. Do it fast, in one go, and have a chocolate star/button on the ready.

Its funny you should say that as that's exactly what I did with the syringe but she still spat it all out and dribbled it all over herself. I let her hold a bag of chocolate buttons for a treat for being a good girl but she was too traumatised to eat any of them. The thought of doing this 4 times a day for 7 days fills me with dread!

My DS (20 months) has just finished a 3 week course of antibiotics for bronchitis. He was just like your DD for the first couple of days - clamping mouth shut, spitting it out, wriggling as hard as he could, etc. Then for no apparent reason he decided he actually liked it, smiled from ear to ear when the syringe appeared and even asked for more! So the rest of the course was a breeze. Fingers crossed that your DD is the same.

We used the nurofen type syringe and let him play with it afterwards so it wasn't a strange object. And didn't try to give it all in one squirt (took about 3 squirts for 3ml). And made lots of yummy-yummy noises before and during, and lots of praise after. But other than that, my only advice is to have a cloth/bib at hand to clear up the mess, but even if it looks like it has all been spat out, quite a bit does actually get swallowed.

Let then see you shake the bottle and make it a little bit like a treat or game, as in do you want the pink (calpol) or yellow (antibiotics) medicine first.

Other than that just try reassuring them that this is their special medicine that will help them feel better, normally it only takes a day or so for them to realise its ok and helps them feel better.

We were role to give it in the cheek but in between the teeth ( if that makes sense)

Syringe it into one of those little Ella's kitchen pouches of fruit.

I mixed it up with a bit of fromage frais, went down everytime then!

Syringe, just right into the back of the throat (not as brutal as it sounds).

This has to be wrapped up in an enormous performance about how delicious and special it is, of course.

Just went through this with my 22 mo it was TRAUMATIC for the first couple of days and I even went back to the chemist begging for an alternative. Then I just tried putting it in her milk (bottle in the morning, sippy cup in the afternoon), in about only 1/2 oz so I knew she was getting the full dose (then I would add more milk to the bottle after if she wanted more). Thankfully it worked as there was no other way she was taking it I had tried all the other suggestions/tips. Good luck

My toddler was difficult to get me medicine into.

Putting it in to his milk worked for us.

Good luck!!