Please help me get antibiotics into my toddler

[TwinkleMerrick]

Just that really, I'm calling on all experienced parents to give me some tips on getting my head strong 2.5 year old take antibiotics for an ear infection. The doctor was useless! Just said to use a syringe and squirt in the side of her mouth....like I hadn't tried that! She just spits it every where and gets really upset. I've tried bribing with chocolate....didn't work. Try giving it in smaller doses and on a spoon....didn't work. Now trying putting it in her milk....she is sitting in her den looking at it questionably. It's really stressing me out, made worse by the doctor saying she will have to go to hospital and have a drip if I can't get it in her, I really don't want that with covid and everything. Please help me xx

Is it the idea of medicine or the taste?

Mixed with yoghurt?

Sorry to hear your dd is unwell, i see you've tried putting it in with milk, but does she have squash/cordial? My dd wont take anything unless it's in some squash as it disguises the taste, hope she gets well soon

I'd give up on the liquid. If it's the same one that DS had it tastes absolutely awful and nothing will disguise it. I ended up getting tablets (capsules), breaking them open and putting the contents into a spoonful of yoghurt. Much better!

@blindmansbluff

Mixed with yoghurt?

I came to suggest this. Mix with any stronger tasting treat food? It didn't always work, you have my sympathy!

Honestly as a parent of 3 balanced happy ages 6 and above kids and I’ve been through this...

Of it comes to a choice between a drip or them taking it, hold them hard, nose held squirt into mouth and mouth covered to swallow. Sorry sometimes cruel to be kind!! I’ve only hit that point once but it worked and no lasting damage unlike a trip to the hospital and serious illness. Lots of cuddles and treats after for you and them for the guilt!

@MadeForThis it's the taste she doesn't like. @Imnotamagician she only drinks milk and water. She is very particular about her drinks. @blindmansbluff yogurt is a good shout as it's the sort of texture of yogurt.

Please any more tips would be helpful, she is a clever little girl will figure it out....so I need a few ways of tricking her.

Thanks xx

Try this?

Over ice cream like sauce?

@Gigheimer I totally agree, but the thing is I tried the hold nose, squirt in mouth and hold shut....but she still manages to spit it out, even with her mouth shut. How did u managed to get them to swallow it?

Stroke under their chin gets them to swallow. A nurse showed me that trick when ds was ill with tonsillitis and very similar to you couldn't get him to take the meds he desperately needed to avoid hospital admissions

Once you've done the squirt in the mouth (right to the back) hold the lips closed and the winner is to do a sharp blow in their face.....natural response is to swallow! Not failed yet!

If you end up needing to force it

Sit on the floor with her lying between your legs facing away from ypu

Put one of your legs over each side of hers trapping an arm and a leg

This means you can hold her head straight between your thighs

Hold her nose shut with one hand and squirt into her cheek with the other hand. Stay like that until she swallows

When you are done, give her massive praise and a piece of chocolate (something strong flavored). Tell her next time she has a choice to take the medicine, she can be held down like a baby, or sit still like a big girl, but she has to have the medicine either way. Mostly they realize that they are going to have to take it and just sit still as they realize you mean business.

Oh god, memories of when ds had cellulitus and we had to get flucoxacillin into him urgently. It tastes VILE.

Only the tiniest drop could be disguised in yoghurt. The only thing that worked was mixing it with VERY strong Ribena or Vimto. I sed to taste it myself first to make sure I had mixed it strong enough.

Hold her on your lap sideways, her closest arm around behind you. Hold her free arm in your free hand. Put the syringe tip right in to back molar area & hold it there for a few beats. You can't spit with an open mouth. Eventually it'll be a choice between swallowing or breathing, and she'll swallow! In desperate times I pull antibiotic into syringe and pull a little bit of calpol after. It hides the taste very effectively. Be careful though cos you don't want to overdose - I'm talking 1 ml. Use the syringes with the little point (where needle would ordinarily go) rather than the blunt ones that look like a cigarette.

Everyone else in the family gets some (pretending). Toddler isn’t allowed any.

Dd was prescribed antibiotics for suspected impetigo. Nothing we could do could get it in her. She only drank milk or water so mixing it in a drink didn’t work and it tasted so vile even mixing in yoghurt didn’t disguise it.

In the end the only thing that worked a little bit was mixing with Calpol but even then she knew it was tainted and spat half of it out.

Thankfully she hasn’t had to have it for anything serious and the impetigo cleared itself up with the minimal antibiotics we managed to get into her.

So no help but a hand hold. It’s traumatising having to forcibly hold your little one down to get medicine into them even if we know it’s for the best.

Ask your pharmacy for help. I had a truly horrible one for DD as a toddler, and they sorted some alternatives for me. I did try it myself and it was disgusting and taste lingered for ages

I can still remember the foul banana antibiotics I regularly had for ear infections as a child .

I did the lying on the floor, childs arms being held by my legs as someone described very well earlier. Dont take the syringe out too quickly.

Thanks guys these are great tips. I managed to disguise it in her milk. It's been really stressful! So nice to get some moral support from other parents xx

If you do have to resort to pinning down (been there) then a quick blow on their face tends to make them swallow.

We used to hide in yoghurts/fruit purée most of the time.

Luckily at 3yrs 10 months they are more bribable now!

We once had this, ended up coating syringe in sugar and having pile of sweets ready for when he took it, very stressful

Chocolate milkshake

Ella’s fruit purée pouch- mix it up

As others have said, cruel to be kind. On back on lap, squirt in side, hold mouth shut. Might be a two person job.