tonsillitis

[Happylady]

My 17 month old son has tonsillitis and has been prescribed antibiotics, we are having problems getting him to take the medicine as he does not like it and he neeeds to take it four times a day, so can any-one suggest a way we can get him to take him medicine with out him getting to upset. We have tried using a syringe but he pushes his tongue forward to stop us giving him the medicine.He is not eating or drinking much so I am trying not to put it in food or drink as I would like him to at least have some thing in his tummy when he feels like having some food or a drink. Any suggestions welcome.

You could try tucking the nozzle of the syringe down the side of his cheek, where he can't push his tongue. We often do this for our son when he is not in the mood for taking medicine he has to have. Or, if he still uses and likes a dummy, you can get special medicine dispensers that look like a dummy but have a little compartment on the back into which you put the medicine. Then, as they suck, the medicine goes down. I've not used this but it looks quite a clever gadget. I think either Blooming Marvellous or JoJo Maman Bebe stock them.
Hope he feels better soon - it's ever so painful.

Sounds like that dummy could do the trick. If you can't find one, you might like to try this. It works in a similar way:

Mix the medicine with enough milk to take away the taste, and put it in your son's beaker or bottle. He'll drink it up without noticing it. Have to wait till he's thirsty, though.

instead of the syringe, have you tried a dropper? they tend be narrower than a syringe and quite long which makes it easier to get past the tongue down the side of the mouth, and they can be squirted rather than dripped.
you can get different sizes from the chemist i think.

thanks for alll the advise
In the end we just have to be very quick and as he would only take it if on a spoon but he got used to the taste and realised that he had to have it.And we gave him some thing to eat straight after to take the taste away.

He is now a lot better and we have finished the medicine.