Best method for calpol hater

[Ilovenannyplum]

DS is 2.
Has temp (39 degrees) cold, runny nose, not himself etc etc.
Sooooo calpol time.

He hates it, it's usually a 2 man job, I hold him down and DP uses the syringe to squirt it in.
DP is not here. I am alone, how can I get it in him.
Hiding it in yoghurt doesn't work. Bribery does not work.

Gaffa taping his arms down at this point seems my best option.

Any ideas please feel free to send them my way

(Mini) Bag of haribo. Pop one in with each squirt.

Two wrongs DO make a right

Is it just proper cal poly he's tried? Could a different flavour help?

Dc likes to do it themself. Worth a try? Otherwise roll the bugger in a big towel and syringe it in.

I put my kids calpol in juice or jelly or yoghurt.

If I needed to force him to have it I would lay him down on the floor and kneel over him, one leg each side of his body, then lower myself carefully so I'm low enough to trap his arms but not bearing weight on him, then gently squeeze the lips from the side in so his mouth purses with one hand and squirt in with the other.

As you can tell, my child doesn't like calpol (or ranitadine) either!

I once saw a colour less and I believe flavourless calpol in my local lloyds chemist. One second and I'll check...

Ignore me OP, it's colour and sugar free...

Can I suggest you ask your Pharmacist for some suppositories. They are an absolute godsend for oral medicine refusers. Used a lot for small kids in Ireland but weirdly not much in the UK.

Does he need it though? If the fever isnt bothering him and he's not at risk of seizures? I don't always give mine calpol with a fever simply because it helps me gauge how ill they are and any prolonged fever would mean I'd get them to the docs.

I've done it. I'm covered in calpol but it's in.

Bribery didn't work. So it was wrap him up and squeeze it in. Give chocolate buttons after to ease guilt.

It's the little voice shouting nooooo mummy that makes me feel bloody awful.

I've tried all brands of calpol. The full sugar, full colour one is the one that's tolerated the most but even that is traumatic. Maybe I'll ask about suppositories, I'm sure he won't be a fan of those either.
Touch wood, he's never had 'proper' medicine so not sure if it's just calpol that he is against. He had ranatidine for reflux when he was tiny but that was a breeze compared to this!

Next round, 9pm (obvs if necessary, not just for the fun of it....)

If you use a syringe and blow a little on their face after each squirt it forces them to swallow (mine is sneaky and would spit it out after much wrestling).

Erm when ds was little I use to scoop a petit filous into a bowl add the calpol and microwave it for a bit to warm it up! He would take it all! When I gave it to him cold he refused! Would that work maybe?

If I was poorly like him, I would take pain relief and I've never considered not giving it to him if he is poorly.
If it was just the temperature I wouldn't but combined with the other things, I think that calpol is necessary in this situation.

Buy a stronger concentration ( the one for older kids) so there's less to get down them so instead of it being 125mg in 5 ml it's 250mg in 5ml so you only have to give them 2.5ml - less for them to spit out!!
Also I realised other day that penicillin v suspension says on leaflet that guar guar gum (found in kids yogurts) affects absorbsion which I was suprised at because a yogurt would be the best thing to hide the nasty stuff in!! Not sure if this applies to any other meds too?

I didn't know I could do that? Getting half down instead of a full dose would make this 50% less awful.

That hadn't even crossed my mind to think of that

Would he take it himself? Sometimes what they object to is the being held down more than the medicine itself. DS loves being independent - at first we had to press the plunger but now he does that himself too. He got used to this with his vitamins and now will do it with calpol too. Cherry-flavoured paracetamol (from Lloyds and a few others) seems more acceptable than the strawberry-flavoured makes. For antibiotics, this totally doesn't work so wrapping in a towel to reduce arm flailing and bribing him with ice cream afterwards are my go-to-techniques.

If it was just the temperature I wouldn't but combined with the other things actually reducing the temprature is the MOST important reason to give paracetamol.

What believeitornot said.

The temperature is there for a reason- to heat the body so bacteria/viruses can't survive.

I just left it to run it's course in my medicine refuser. Good nursing care instead- room temp, light clothing, hydration etc.

I also taught them to swallow peas/sweetcorn and tictacs whole as soon as i could. They started taking tablets instead, much easier!

The NHS advice is "Antipyretics aren't always necessary. If your child isn't distressed by the fever or underlying illness, there's no need to use antipyretics to reduce a fever." link - they re-emphasised this recently as some parents had the idea that they needed to medicate every rise in temperature or simple cold.

If he is distressed by his cold symptoms and disguising the paracetamol doesn't help then a quick 2-person hold down and get it in fast is probably the best way.

Ice cream. A large teaspoon with the calpol mixed in, claim it's to stop his sore throat/feeling hot etc.

It took me until mine was three to crack it!

We used to mix it with chocolate mousse for DD, only way we could get her to take it without pinning her down!

I wouldn't have bothered either believeitornot but I wouldn't have taken anything myself either. Agree in most cases there's no need to bring down a temperature.

He was up 11 times last night crying, it's safe to say his cold symptoms are bothering him
I've woken up with it too, and feel horrible so I'm pleased I decided to give him some medicine because I am absolutely going to take some paracetamol myself.

You don't need to give calpol for a temperature. A temperature is the bodies way of fighting infection and should be left to get on with it. As long as temp is under 40 and baby over 3 months old it's nothing to worry about. Calpol is for pain relief.

There was a programme on BBC 1 last week - The doctor who gave up drugs, he had recently became a father and was looking into the effects of childhood medication, calpol being a major player! Definitely worth a watch as despite his view on medicine he ended up giving calpol to his infant.