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Children's health

How can I make toddlers antibiotics taste better?

31 replies

suspiciousofgoldfish · 25/08/2016 16:41

DS (2) has been prescribed a course of oral antibiotics (penicillin) for 10 days. Have to give them 4x per day and it tastes revolting.

He understandably balked at the first dose and refused anymore, so I mixed it with yogurt. He had one mouthful and then said no more.

I tasted it and the flavour is so strong it wasn't masked at all by the fromage frais. Husband ended up getting him to take the medicine but it didn't sound fun

How can I make it taste better? I don't want to add anything that may affect the medicine..... Any ideas?

TIA

OP posts:

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user1471549672 · 27/08/2016 22:42

Best bet is bribery, give the child their favourite sweeties immediately after each dose..... I know SUGAR four times a day, but balance that with getting the infection under control quickly , it's only for a short time and I'm sure it will work better in the long run. The child is already refusing yoghurt , children aren't daft !!!

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drspouse · 28/08/2016 08:21

Bribery didn't work for us at just under 2, he didn't understand it. The good thing about jam is it's very strong tasting so you can hide the medicine in just a little bit.

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RoganJosh · 28/08/2016 08:24

We found mint cordial, neat, masks flucloxacillin's bitterness. If you don't mind the sugar and if your child likes mint.

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sarahja99 · 28/08/2016 08:32

When my DD had that I found nothing would mask it enough to get the whole dose down her. Bribery worked for us. She had to be able to see the treat (chocolate buttons) and she knew all the medicine had to be taken before she could have them. Good luck OP!

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Cliffdiver · 26/09/2016 10:47

I 'watched' this thread as I knew it would come in useful one day!

DD 2 now has an infection and has been prescribed the hideous flucoxacillin. The pharmacist told me to go and buy her some jellybeans whilst he made up the script!

Bribery not working. She was so distressed she was sick at the last dose but some great tips on here - going to try Jam later.

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Theonlyoneiknow · 26/09/2016 12:32

Been through this. It was soooooo stressful and we tried everything mentioned. The only thing that worked was mixing it with milk and putting it in her old baby sippy cup with lid. She happily drank it. Most odd but I also think she could smell it otherwise and maybe the lid hid the smell. Don't know. It was the fluxacillin. So rank