Child refusing much needed antibiotics! Advice please

[Jazz48235]

Hi all.

My 3 year old has got tonsillitis.

I was up all night last night worrying/calling 111 and not taking my eyes off him as he seemed really poorly and temp was up to 40.
We got seen earlier today and dr has confirmed tonsillitis, we have all just had Covid as well.

Here is my next problem...
He won't take the antibiotics. He is allergic to penicillin so can't have the usual banana flavoured liquid, instead he has clarithromysin which tastes gross and has a weird 'bitty' texture.
I haven't been able to give him a single dose yet.
I've tried mixing it with milk, yogurt and ice cream, but he's refusing everything. It's like he knows...and I feel like I'm wasting all the medicine!

I'm not sure what else I can do, I've even struggled to get calpol and ibuprofen into him with this illness when normal that isn't an issue.
If I force it he spits it out, even if sleeping.

Any suggestions??
Many thanks

It's awful but I have to wrap my 3 year old up and force a dose down. I lay him down,squirt it in the back of his mouth and hold his mouth shut. It's traumatic and I spend about 10 minutes cuddling, kissing and apologising after but for the greater good.

My DC did the same with anything other than their one recognized medication. Juice was always a treat, so I would empty out most of a carton of apple juice syringe the antibiotics in their, add some more apple juice to dilute it, not a full carton as the risk is they don't drink it all and get the full dose. The carton hid the contents and amy colour change. It's always child specific though. My DCs overwhelming love of juice overrode any suspicion over a slight change in taste

Just get it in him. Pin him down or wrap him in a towel. The alternative is a hospital admission

Restrain him and syringe it in. Then for every dose give him the choice between taking it nicely and having a chocolate afterwards or you will give it to him anyway and no chocolate.

Mixed with the sugary-est toffee yoghurt you would never usually buy for your child, couldn't taste it at all, wolfed it down!

I used to bribe my dc’s, I’m not in the brute force camp.

Thanks again.
Bribing usually works but his throat is so sore absolutely NOTHING is appealing.
Not even sweets or chocolate.

So I've had to resort to forcing. I will try orange juice in the morning 🤞🏻

To all those saying 'just get it in him!' I understand that that's what I must do once all other option are exhausted and I also understand that it's 'better than a hospital admission'
I was just asking for any tips or tricks regarding a gentler approach first that I could try.

He has had several courses of antibiotics and I usually manage to disguise it well with no problems. This times proving tricky!!

Try making a toddler cocktail- medicine in a jolly cup and add a strong-tasting fruit smoothie (one of the dark berry ones instead of the strawberry and banana-type ones, they mask the taste better). Add funky straws and ideally a cocktail umbrella, make it look really really fun.

We used to call it dinosaur juice a la Peppa Pig. My DS was awful at taking medicine, he wouldn't even take calpol. But adding a cocktail umbrella and some little stirrers with flamingoes left over from our wedding and serving as a smoothie made it irresistible.

Good luck!

This. He doesn't have a choice. He could end up seriously ill in hospital.

In fact, I know it's too late for this occasion but we ended up serving 'dinosaur juice' minus medicine at least once per week even when he was well because he was SO awful to give medicine to. Then it was an easy thing to slip the medicine in when he actually was poorly as it was an expected part of his routine.

Forcing it would never work with my daughter. She would vomit guaranteed.
I find it easier to get tablets into her. Now she's 9 she can swallow capsules.
Clarithromycin comes as a tablet. Perhaps you could crush it and add to yoghurt.

Ignore that. You can't crush clarithromycin

Give him ice cream or frozen yogurt first, then the antibiotic, then more freezy stuff. It soothes his throat and minimises the taste. Ice lollies are the best way to get fluids into a child with tonsillitis.

Clarithromyacin tastes much better than the penicillin he would have had. We find it easier to get down children at work, but it is very gritty texture which kids don't like.

Wrap like a cat, pinch nose, in mouth

May need two people

Awful but necessary

💐 Op, I know it's so tough

Dont squirt to the back of the throat; that’s what causes the chocking/coughing/vomiting. Aim for the back corner of his mouth. They can’t spit out from there and end up just swallowing it. You will need to hold him down, wrap him in a blanket if he is especially wriggly at escaping but hold him down, hold nose until mouth opens and aim to the side and back then close his mouth. You just have to use force.

When my daughter had scarlet fever we had a hellish time getting antibiotics into her. Eventually we tried mixing a dose in with a table spoon of Nutella, worked a treat. We went through a whole tub of Nutella in 10days and I was slightly worried about her teeth but worry about all that when he’s better! Just do what you need to do.

We had a hellish time last year when my 3yo had strep a. Not our first rodeo with a refusing child but this stuff tasted like paint stripper. We tried disguising in juice, smoothie, yogurt, bribing with haribo. Forcing didn’t work either as she was so distressed it would come straight back up and became a massive ordeal. This was 4 times a day and it nearly killed us. What I should have done is go straight back to the gp and ask for an alternative. I think she’d have been better with tablets crushed in jam as it was just horrible all round. It seems absolutely non sensical that they try and get small children to take something vile multiple times a day and expect good antibiotic compliance.