Tips for getting penicillin into a 2 year old!

[lazzaroo]

My little one has been put on penicillin for Tonsilitis. It's the second time she's had it and last time she ended up in hospital it was so severe it effected her breathing. They have described this bout as 'chronic' and said he tonsils are massive...a technical term!! So, I'm dreading it getting too bad again.

Long story short...she hates the penicilin! when i'm on my own I'm lucky if half goes down her throat! It's not much better with 2 of us! she will happily take nurofen and calpol, and has been doing to keep her temp under control. She recognises the Penicillin immediately and kicks off.

Any tips?

A syringe so it goes straight down the side of her throat.

Have you tried mixing it with yogurt / fruit puree?

Bribery?

mix it in the yoghurt - works every time! (disclaimer - providing she isn't dairy allergic of course!)

we did a dose of penicillin in syringe and then a tiny bit of calpol at the end, dipping it in the calpol, that got it in ds's mouth and then squirt it in quick

My ds had to have lots of anti b's due to a serious infection when when he was about that age. We tried every type and every method. Syringes, mixing with various sweet foods, we even tried to make pudding with it and put it in drinks. It made no difference and he became wise to it. Eventually after literally a year he was taken for an operation to fix it but of course he needed another 3 months of treatment. I requested that he was tried on tablets to see if it would make a difference and it did. They only make adult tabs so they have to adjust the dose accordingly but I found that giving him a spoon of yoghurt with it on top where he could see it worked really well. He got better. Nearly 18 months of illness. Sometimes kids just wont take them. Tell the docs though as there are different flavours like mint which are less disgusting. You might have to go to a hospital to get them though they're not stocked in pharmacy much. There are ways round it if its essential that she takes them. To be fair I have tried the liquids to see what the fuss was and seriously boak

Thanks for tips, realy helpful. Have ben using syringe and it is better than spoon but sometimes makes her sick as it's too much at once, and iof not all at once she's obviously sussed it! plus it still takes 2 too hold her hands away and get it in!

I did wander about mixing it in with her milk, so may try the yoghurt suggestion, but wasn't sure as it says they should be given on empty stomach or hour before food. She has to have them 4 times a day!

Have also tried bribery...don't think anything in the world will convince her it's worth it!

Husband is home tomorrow so hopefully we'll get on better if we double team her! and I'll try some of your tactics too. Thanks!

We had this with my ds , the only way we could get him to take it was to open a corner of the cheapest looking carton of juice and put it in there , then fold down the corner again and give it to him with a straw , he didn't notice and was happy to have rubbish oj too . Good luck , tonsolitis is grim enough without the worry with the meds .

Thank you! she has no appetite at the moment which doesn't help with the sneaking it into food! and she doesn't like juice!...AAAHHHHHH!! I can see I'm going to have to come up with a cunning plan.

You're right...it is grim!

Does she have a dummy?

Dd is only 16 months but had to take antibiotics last week - she is usually sick the second medicine touches her throat. However, I did a tiny drop of medicine in her mouth in front of the tv then shoved the dummy in and out until all meds were gone.

Ds had to take clarithromycin which is VILE. We used those ellas organics fruit pouches. They're really strong tasting so a blob of medicine on a spoon with puree all around and over it and repeat until meds gone.

Good luck.

Having had DD nearly die of mastoiditis at 5 months and then living with the repeat of another life threatening infection everytime she had an ear infection for the next three years I developed several tactics.

1. giving one dose whilst they are sleeping get them sucking on syringe then slowly squeeze dose in.
2. after the age of 2 I used bribery if you take your medicine you can have a chocolate button.
3. If all else failed holding nose gently till mouth opened then gently syringe in, this may sound brutal, but the risks of not completing the courses where too horendous to even consider missing a dose.

I have to say I never mixed it with anything as that just increased the volume and made the whole process more drawn out.

You could also try asking your dr to prescribe it in a higher strength eg if double strength you might only need to get 2.5ml in which is easier than 5ml.

Thanks all. So far getting it into her milk seems to be the only thing working...and literally forcing her to swallow it on other occassions which is completely horrible but necessry in the long run. She is generally much better so guess some of it's getting to where it's needed!