Spitting medicine out

[Botbot]

DD (13 months) has a throat infection, and we're finding it almost impossible to get Calpol and antibiotics down her.

We're using a syringe, which has always been fine before, but she's recently discovered how to spit her water out in a squirty fashion, and that's what she's doing with the medicine. While screaming her head off, of course.

Even with me holding her in a headlock and dp wielding the syringe, we're failing miserably. Tried spoon and bottle teat but even more hopeless. Any advice, anyone? It's all getting a bit upsetting.

Try putting only 1 ml in at a time, with the syringe. And aim it to the little pocket at the back of her cheek, to the side of her molars. This way she shouldn't be able to spit it out.

It will take a bit longer, and you may need to wrap her up like a sausage in a towel or blanket to keep her pinned (sounds awful be she needs the medicine). But this way she should get it all.

And remember a big cuddle and a drink of water or milk afterwards!

recently had this problem with ds to the point that his infection became so severe (after 3 days of spitting out and refusing antibiotics) that he was admitted to hospital to receive the medicine through an IV drip.

We found out after that you can mix the medicine in with a yoghurt / drink. It can render the medicine less effective, but is better than not getting it in him at all!

Good luck, I know how upsetting it can be!

Thanks - will try giving it slowly, and may resort to yoghurt if that doesn't work. Hadn't thought of wrapping her up either - if only I'd kept that swaddling blanket from when she was tiny!

Hope your ds is better now, DG.

DS had german measles followed by chicken pox followed by a chest infection followed by tonsillitis in two months! between nine and eleven months so lots of practice at various types of medicine. he hated calpol and those banana antibiotics (amoxcyllin?).

We tried the headlock with the hold the nose until they have to swallow as advocated by mil and various others. It does work but I felt so mean. We ended up giving him everything in his milk because we knew no matter how poorly he was he would drink it. I know it can reduce efficiency but better some than wasting several doses to get one lot in.

Also - he doesn't like calpol but we tried an own brand from somewhere (lloyds?) which is cherry rather than strawberry and he takes that now. Soz, v long post but subject v familiar

Well...

After huge trauma with syringe again last night, DP mixed all her antibiotics with yoghurt today and she ate it happily! Having said that, he used live yoghurt and i bet that's affected the effectiveness (v. unscientific, me). But she seems much better, so something must be going in.

how is she doing now Botbot?

Still quite peaky. She got wise to the hiding-it-in-yoghurt thing, so yesterday we had to go back to the wrapping-her-up-like-a-sausage/screaming-blue-murder/spitting-it-out thing.

But dp took her back to the docs today and she gave him some suppositories. Which, bizarrely, dd hasn't minded at all! So it looks like we've turned a bit of a corner. Hopefully she'll be better soon - I get a day at home with her tomorrow, though it means I have to miss my work jolly to Brighton. That's parenthood for you!

god, they are little buggers arent they? Amuuuuusing that she's fine with suppositories though!
Hope it's all cleared up soon

I know - well if that's the way she wants it, far be it from me to argue!

She got worse yesterday so we went back to the doctors - but this morning she has woken up with no fever and very jolly. So I think whatever it was is on its way out. And next time she's ill, I'll be asking for suppositories all the way. How lovely.