DD won't take antibiotic...desperate 😫

[Greenginghamdress]

DD has a bad ear infection. She was prescribed fluoxacillin and we just can't get it down her. She's had a little but now won't take it and I've tried everything. In desperation I've tried pinning her down but she won't swallow it. I know this was cruel 😢 and we both ended up in tears.
Her outer ear is very infected and her temperature keeps rising. MIL told me she may be at risk from meningitis and I'm terrified.
How can I get these antibiotics down her?

Is it the yellow liquid one? How old is she?
I would resort to blatant bribery

Add to jam, yogurt, ice cream, chocolate mousse etc? How old is she? Could you reason with her or use bribery? Give to Teddy then give to her?

Presuming liquid antibiotics for a child. Have you tried other flavours from the pharmacist?

If she hates them all, you could get the antibiotic in pill capsules 💊 then pull them apart and mix the powder inside in a bit of chocolate milk for each dose.

We do bribery with chocolate buttons. A chocolate button after each half ml or so. It’s painful, but less so than having to force them in, which we have had to in the past. In that case, it’s a two person job, one firmly cradling, one to administer. You have my sympathies

Pin down, syringe in and squirt, rub under chin. She'll swallow reflexively.
Sounds cruel but sometimes you've got to be cruel to be kind. She needs the medicine, it's not like she's refusing to eat her dinner. I know it's hard but needs must sometimes.

Bribery or, yes, pinning down. It's horrible but she must take the meds

Will she take calpol?

Is it the nasty tasting orangey-red one? Nothing we tried got that down my DS...had to go back and ask for something else.

Other ones we've managed to successfully mix into yogurt or chocolate pudding.

If it’s the pink one you have my sympathies, it even smells bad.
my dc said the aftertaste is bad so they had theirs with some sugar/syrup/honey (so spoon of medicine, spoon of sweet stuff straight after)

How old is she?

How old is she?

Do you think she might swallow tabs?

I have been in your position and exhausted the mixing with calpol/yoghurt/ribena (and tears of frustration!) and now my DD (6) will only swallow tablets. I'm amazed that she can do it but it turned out to be the only way.

Flucloxacillin is truly vile. I'm not very good with pills so was prescribed the liquid once and it's awful, I don't know how you'd make a child take it - it made me retch and gag and the only thing stopping me throwing it back up was knowing I'd need to take the dose again.

Does it need to be flucloxacillin? My 6 week old just happily guzzled down her course of co-amoxiclav and I've given liquid amoxicillin to DD1 before when she was a toddler with no issues.

1. Mix with sweet fruit puree, a strong flavoured one
2. Put in milk before bed, dream feed rest of bottle to ensure full dose given
3. Use a calpol syringe, give them an empty one to hold/play with

I've gone back to the docs before now and requested the yellow version (Think its amoxicillin) because they loved banana medicine.
However I've managed to get my neighbours son to have the same medicine by teaching him our 'magic trick'
Syringe of medicine at the ready and a 'shot' of orange juice.
Medicine in and juice down straight away to wash away the taste. Then a chocolate button.
Entirely depends on the age of the child but i really struggled with the idea of pinning mine down.
Hope your lo improves soon.

She's 4.5.
With pinning down , how do I get past her teeth?

How old is she? The pink liquid one is really gross. If she is small enough you just have to keep pinning her down I'm afraid, it's important she takes it. Squirt into her cheek rather than towards her tongue or throat, as then it's much harder to spit out. Then lots of praise and rewards after.

Mix in some icing sugar. Or some of that strawberry syrup you put on ice cream. Or mix into a spoonful of Nutella, or jam.

Bribe her with chocolate or sweets - half the medicine then gets a sweet; take the rest then gets another.

Pin down, squirt down side of cheek in small bits if a lot and blow on face to make spitting impossible. Paediatric nurse taught me that when my oldest needed oral medication daily.

Also make sure it's the most concentrated version, I.e. you're not having to get more liquid than necessary in to get the dose. I went back to the hospital pharmacy with antibiotics and requested a more concentrated form to make it possible to get into oldest DD.

You don’t need to, syringe slowly into the gum at the back of the mouth between her cheek and teeth. That way it can’t be spat out either.

Can you explain to her that if she doesn't take this she'll need to go and stay in hospital over night because she'll be really unwell.

You need to wrap her in a towel. On your knee. Be firm to be kind. You're stopping her from getting sepsis

Genius (does this also work on cats?)

Thinking of you, op, I can feel your desperation. Hope your daughter is feeling much better very soon

It's not cruel to pin her down if you have to. It would be worse for her to have to have them through a drip.

You could try contacting your doctor/the pharmacy tomorrow and seeing if it can be given in any other form - suppository (I think my 4yo would prefer nasty meds) or injection or just a different strength.

I believe that one is absolutely vile. I got it down my toddler and it was vomited back up. Honestly, taste it.

I went back and got another antibiotic. (Erythromycin).

Sorry but I think pinning her down is cruel and traumatising. It will put her off telling you if she feels poorly for fear of getting more medicine in future. It’s best to go and try other flavours or get it in capsules and mix them into something she is willing to eat. Don’t turn this into a confrontation that involves you physically forcing her to take them.

Same with my DD last year. I gave her a lolly pop and she was allowed to have a suck after each bit of antibiotics went down. By the end of the course she was taking it quite happily.