Impossible to give medicine to - is there any point seeing GP?

[Thomcat]

Lotbags is truly Snotbags.
She got a couple of weeks ago, I hoped it would clear up in half term, she always has a cold this time of year, it's jusy one of those things.

She then got a deep, loose chesty cough.
Seemed fine in herself.
Then on Sunday she was v hot and up most of night and teary.
Kept her at home yesterday. Took 2 adults to pin her down to give her calpol and baby nerofen.
Again seems fine in the day, bit tired obviuosly.
Again last night she was in with this by 2am and didn't really go back to sleep.
Seems fine again now, not really up for her usual breakfast but has eaten and is chatting and laughing.

She's 4 and has down's syndrome so can't have a conversation about how she feels.

If i take her to a gp he'll just prescribe antibiotics and I'll come home and for the next 3 days i'll try and get it down her but to no avail, no matter what we do. I might get 1/2 ml of the 5mls down her.

Is there any point?
Am I being a terrible mother not taking her to a gp?

I can get calpol down, eventually but have to reload the syringe 3 times to get about 5mls into her and we end up having to wrap a towel round her, hold her arms down and hold her nose till she opens her mouth. It's so upsetting and traumatic. I'm hard and I get it done as quickly and calmly as it's possible to do in this horrid situation but.....

we have all had this thomcat it is vile

dd1 also will NOT take medicine and i have done the holding down thing - i totally sympathise.

I would say there is no point taking her to gp - it is a virus.

does she drink juice? mine rarely get ribena so strong ribena with two disprol (childs paracetamol) dissolved in it fools them. I give it to them in front of a video and they just drink it down

hot drinks, rest and cuddles the way to go I reckon. x Enid

My 12 week old seems to have the same thing and i've just relented and asked for a gp to phone me as although he seems happy enough the cough is making him bring back up at least one feed a day now and his mucus is green so i'm thinking he may need something more. I'd give your gp a ring and see what he thinks because even though its a nightmare giving Lottie medicine it's probably best to check she doesnt actually need it for the cough etc to go IYSWIM. I hope she gets better soon the bugs this year are horrible!

Can they give antib's in a caplet form that can be crushed up in a spoon of jam or something? I remember that's how I used to get given medicine as a child.

btw I have taken no antibs and my dh took 2 lots - neither of which made the slightest difference

also - does your gp have a question time. Mine - you can phone and leave your question and details and the gp takes an hour before lunch to phone back all the queries.

Calpol.....we have this probelm.

Does she eat fromage frais/ yoghurt?

If so you can mix the calpol in with the FF and give it to her that way. I have checked this with the manufacturers and it is fine as long as it doen't 'sit' for more than 30 minutes

You could check if you can do this with the anitbiotics. Phone the company that makes it and ask to be put through to the medical information department. Explain the situation and ask them if the antibiotic can be mixed with anything.....if you explain the situation I am sure that they will be very helpful (I used to do this job!)

My sister used to be exactly the same, I have very vivid memories of my mum holding her with a towel wrapped around to pin her arms and hold her steady, just to get a small spoon of medicine into her. as far as I remember it was always forgotton about within minutes though.

my ds, almost 4, had that same cold a couple of weeks ago, and then the v+d bug last week. He is fully recovered now, we used echinacea drops for immune system, bioforce ivy-thyme drops for cough, plantago drops for runny nose, childrens acidophilus powder, and some vit C.
He has recovered both times much quicker than most of the kids in his preschool.

You may not be interested in herbal remedies, but the reason I mention them is because they are quite tasteless and can easily be diguised in a beaker of milk or juice.

have no advice on how to get the calpol into her though. Would she take it if she was allowed to feed it to herself?

Ohhh great, what a relief that ypou know where I'm coming from and don't all scream 'take her to a gp you witch'!

She only ever drinks water but have just started giving her some apple juice so I can disguise the echinacea. Will try the disolvable tablet form in some ribena, will try and get out later today and get some.

Also good news about hiding calpol in fromage frais, will do that at lunchtime.

Thanks so much everyone.

Gloworm - what age can kiddies take these herbal remedies from? Can they be taken as preventative or are they for symptoms only?

This might sound a bit wierd but if you can't get calpol into her any other way you can get paracetamol suppositories. Not everyones cup of tea especially in the UK but on the continent I gather that a lots of kids medicines are prescribed as suppositories as it can be a lot easier to get them in (IYSWIM.....).

I agree suppositories sound like the easiest way. When I was an au pair in Europe the mother used to just dot a little cream on the end and it went in so easily - the kids never once made a fuss. Not ideal if there is diahorrea though...

tracy it varies with different remedies.
we have used them on both our toddlers from around 3mths old.

Bioforce (we use their stuff a lot for kids as it comes in drops), used to recommend giving children and infants half the adult amount, but now the pack says for age 2 and over. partly this seems to reflect EU law, having similar laws in all EU countrires etc. and partly,because someone under 2 cant talk and therefore you need to confirm with a gp that their illness is not something more serious before you treat them at home (not that the remedies have suddenly become unsuitable for under 2's)...hope that makes sense

most of them can be taken once a day to prevent, and 3 times a day to treat something.

I have a degree in Nutrition and own a small health shop in Ireland, and have a good local reputation for giving good honest advice!
(is it a sign of how bitchy munsnet has become lately that I feel the need to justify something before i even post it...but thats a whole other thread )

thanks gloworm - will order some echinea drops to see us through the rest of the winter.

God I really don't understand why why why suppositories for children are not more widely available in this country - it's such a common problem to have children not want to take medicine, and it's soooooooooo much easier to give suppositories without grief.

In France and Germany you can get them easily and over the counter, why not here?

We were given suppositories by A&E, over christmas, when ds had very high fever and was sick and could not keep calpol down.
Suppositories ?
Best thing ever !

Supositories would be fab but she has been constipated since birth and as such we have had to use glycerine suppositories on her in the past and she goes into a panic with her bum area now too! Poor little lamb. Part of having Down's syndrome is being pulled, pushed, proded, poked, pinched etc by every tom dick & harry so she has ZERO tolerance.

However, the disprin didn't go down too well, hid it in apple juice and let her drink it out of a big girls cup, one sip and she said 'all finished, bye bye' and then I pored it into her play teapot and play china cups, again, one sip and it was "bye-bye".

The first fromage frais with calpol in worked a treat at lunch time but didn't work at tea time!

don't know if this would work with an older child... but with ds i give it to him when he is asleep, or very sleepy.

either use a dummy dispenser, which (obivously) he sucks on, or just dropper it in very slowly and he just eats it

Nope that doesn't work either! Tried sneaking in and cutting her nails when she is sparko for example and she moves her arms around all over the place and we barely touch her. Tried sneaking in to tie her hair back last night so it didn't get plastered to her face with snot and she woke up saying 'noooooo mummy' and I was barely touching her! It's hopeless.

Ah Thomcat, your poor little girl!

I totally empathise though, my DS2 (aged 3) will NOT take any kind of medicine at all! I hide nurofen and calpol (though not too much calpol cos he knows) in his warm milk and that is the only way I can do it.

He has only had AB's once, last November and I couldn't hide it in his milk as he could taste it. We had to pin him down like you have to and it was heartbreaking. Not a lot went in either.

It is so hard when they are ill, you know that if they have some medicine they will feel so much better, but they don't understand that. It just tastes horrid to them!

Oh DS2 is the same about his nails too

Hope she is feeling better soon. x

thanks for offer of suppositories but they will be just as stressful. she's still poorly but snot is clear now not vivid green!

had horrid time with her at bedtime. it was v sad, lots of tears from us both in the end. she was a big sticky calpol snotty mess. so 1 bath and more tears later.......sleep and peace at last.. until tomorrow.

Poor wee thing. Have been wracking my brains for an alternative to suppositories. Neurofen do a melt in the mouth preparation now but not in a childs dose so you'd have to cut them up, don't know if that would be worth a try?