Giving child antibiotics - will they hate us???

[anniemay123]

Hi everyone, my daughter is 6 months old. Last week she had a fever that just wouldn't go away. She initially didn't have any other symptoms, but 3-4 days in the doctor said her ears looked inflamed and that she probably had an ear infection. Because she had had a fever for so long they suggested precautionary antibiotics. We have to give her 5ml three times a day.

The problem is that with each dose she's getting increasingly upset. She now refuses to open her mouth and my husband has to try and pry her mouth open (several times because we're giving it to her in bits). She then spits it out so we have to catch it with a spoon and try and give it her the remaining liquid again :(

I feel she is looking at us differently - I feel so upset (and I'm not even giving it to her!!) because she doesn't understand why we're doing what we're doing. All she knows is that we're forcing her to do something she doesn't want to do - she's crying so bitterly the whole time (it takes us about 10 mins). She's even started crying before we start giving her the antibiotics.

We have tried distractions but she knows what's coming. The pharmacist said we should be giving the whole dose within 10 mins.

We're having to do this every 8 hours and it makes me worry that it's almost like we're "training" her....and not listening to her cries.

We also haven't started weaning her and I worry that she'll have negative associations with food :( - this is the first time she's had a spoon in her mouth and it has been to do something so horrid :(.

Please reassure me :( we love her so much and I don't want this to affect how she feels about us - especially because it's so regularly that we're having to do it over the next 7 days.

Thanks

This is called being a parent. I'm sure your daughter will prefer this to being dead or having irreversible damage to her body such as hearing loss etc. You can only investigate other ways of doing things, ensuring that they are necessary and do the best for your child. You have a lifetime of doing things that are in their best interests.

Have you tried putting in in her milk or other drink?

Use a syringe. So much easier. Just pop it at the side of even a closed mouth and squirt!

At 6 months, she'll never remember. I'm sure she's just reacting against the taste.

Mix in with a petit filous (however it's spelt) yogurt.

She’s six months old. She’s really not going to remember any of this. You’re going to make her do things that she doesn’t want to over and over, all parents do. It’s fine.

It'll be ok, honestly it will. And you will have to make her take medicine she doesn't want a million more times.

Mix it with something, or syringe in the corner of her cheek - whilst holding her upright

As per PP, go to your pharmacy today and get a syringe/dropper thing. Squirt into the side of her mouth or under the tongue if she opens her mouth.

Why haven't they given you a syringe? Put her down, squirt it in then give her a big cuddle!

Don't spend 10 minutes doing it. Wrap her in a towel and put syringe in side of her mouth takes 30seconds. Don't make a fuss yourself over over compensate for doing it, just do it and then start doing something else.

Syringe and aim into the side of her mouth.

You both need to find your grip and just get them into her use a syringe tip her back slightly and squirt them in no dribs and drabs as it is causing a fuss and of course she wont hate you

It's so stressful when they react like this. I know it's a bit of tough love, but surprised at the first response.

She won't hate you, but I can understand you worrying about it affecting weaning. Have you tried putting it in a little milk to take the taste away?

Or you can get medicine dummys where you put medicine in to the dummy for her to suck?

You can use a syringe and squirt it in to the corner of her mouth, gently massage her chin to encourage her to swallow.
Failing that, I'd try mixing it with food, if she's six months you can be starting to wean, so make it fun, mix with a puree, home made our shop bought and space it out so she gets a little in each spoon full.

If she's getting distressed as you approach it trying doing it somewhere different etc.

Luckily as they get older you can bribe then with stickers!

Bottle of milk, take milk out and immediately squirt tiny amount of meds into cheek and put the bottle straight back in her mouth. Do it right at the beginning of a feed so that they are hungry and want the milk. We would let our children be engrossed in the TV to do it.

Or mix it with a small amount of yoghurt.

It is shit. We have video of our son when he was 5 and he has scratched his cornea and needed medicine applied to his eyeball. Imagine a tiny tube of paste and you squeeze a line of it under his bottom eyelid. We filmed it because he was amazingly calm about the whole thing despite it being awful. Prior to that he has had anti-biotics, vaccinations, eye hospital visits too.

He is 14 and loves us to bits.

Ohh OP some people are being harsh.
Get a syringe and squirt inside of mouth, on the side (cheek)
Have her sit up so she doesn’t “choke” on it.
She won’t hate you 💜

Get a syringe and squirt it to the side of her cheek. If you're trying to just get it straight down her throat it will be unpleasant for her. As she's 6 month you could also try mixing it with a little of something she'll like the taste of like a fruit pouch.

Wrap in towel hold syringe. Get it in her.
She wont hate you or remember
There may be have worse things you need her to do in life. Try and chill.

Oh bless you.

Use a syringe and squirt some into towards the back of her mouth at the side. You can get the syringes in packs of infant Calpol.

She won't hate you. She won't remember. I used to have to pin my son down to brush his teeth because he hated it so much. He still loves me and brushes his own teeth now.

It's horrible when you know you have to do something that upsets them but I promise she will get over it!

Go to the pharmacy where they will be able to give you a syringe and an adaptor for the bottle.

Please reassure me sad we love her so much and I don't want this to affect how she feels about us

If you really think its possible that this is going to affect your relationship with your DD I think you ought to discuss your anxiety levels with your GP.

For nine months I had to do a twenty minute physio session on my little baby (starting at 4 weeks) girl. It wasn't nice. But I'm her parent so I just had to get on with it for her own good and do my best to make it as least negative a time as possible. It paid off and resolved the problem.

There will be plenty of other parents who will be having to put their children through far more every day than a spoonful of medicine.

Please don’t worry. She won’t remember. Just wait til she’s a toddler and you have to tell her no! 🤣🤣🤣 Honestly though, it’s something you have to get used to. It’s harder for us trust me x

Get the lid of a bottle (nipple one) syringe in the other end and squirt in or mix with her milk and let her drink normally x good luck parenting is hard especially when kids or non verbal or don’t understand.

The bottle teat thing is what i used to do so they have to swallow. Also you and her dad might be giving off "omg panic panic" vibes which your baby will pick up on, so the speedier you get it done the better like ripping of a plaster.

My son is terrible for this but I just mix it with banana nesquick powder to make it taste nice and now he thinks its a treat. Win win

@MummyGoingItAlone I am at the 'No' stage with my 2 year old- doesn't matter how gently I tell her, it's that word!

I agree with the pp's about a syringe, during a feed or just before if it helps- she'll definitely feel better without a fever or infection- big cuddles and 'mummy make it better'- bit if a learning curve Op, but wont be the last time you've got to do similar.

Recently putting antiseptic on a knee graze (ouch!)! Big cuddles, but necessary stuff!