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?

Yes I’m not stupid, I know what antibiotics are for. But to advise not even trying kinder, gentler approaches to get the antibiotics into a child but to go straight to physical force is callous.

@Garman I think me and you have the same type of child but the sounds of it!

thanks all. I managed to hide a little in calpol and a drop or two in orange squash. Plus she swallowed a tiny bit originally so that should (almost) make up a full dose. Straight to the shop for chocolate buttons on milkshake tomorrow!

We’ve just finished a course of this, it was the pink one and it was absolutely disgusting. We managed to get it down with chocolate buttons for bribery and a pretty concentrated glass of Ribena to wash it down. He was also happier to take it if we gave him the syringe and let him do it himself.

My opinion isn’t clouded by my upbringing. That was a cheap shot to use my shitty childhood to make me sound irrational as a parent. It’s objectively cruel to pin down a 4yr old to force medicine into them when you haven’t exhausted kinder gentler approaches first. OP asked for ideas and has gotten some good ones, but I’m concerned at the number of callous parents who just can’t be bothered to try and are advising OP to just pin the child down and force feed her. You do know that force feeding anything is a form of torture under the Geneva Convention? And was done to suffragettes? Why you are even arguing that it cannot be traumatising to do to a child what is known to be torture for an adult? It’s traumatising full stop and should be an action of absolute last resort.

Hold her nose her mouth will open quick squirt right at the back.

@Discovereads I never said it can't be traumatising
I said it won't be traumatising in the circumstances of a loving, healthy family life.
Of course you're being irrational. You're bringing the frigging Geneva convention and the suffragettes into it because people disagree with you.

I think we’ll have to agree to disagree on this. It’s not possible to mix all medication with something else.

I’m glad you were able to give it to her OP 😊

My daughter was exactly the same at a similar age and got herself worked up in a real state about taking medicine. We told her that if she wouldn’t let us do it, we’d have to take her to a doctor/ hospital for them to do it there.
it took a lot of persuading for her to agree and after the first dose she always had to have a drink of orange juice in her hand, ready to glug down the second after she swallowed the medicine.

I remember being at my wits end. I think at that age though, you are able to reason with them, offer bribes, etc

Our mantra was two magic stars if we pin you down and syringe it down your throat, five if you swallow properly yourself. That said, by 4yo is taught them to take tablets so we didn't have the drama anymore. My kids have had to take MANY antibiotics.

I brought it up because you were doing a more than disagreeing with me. You said my opinion is clouded by my shitty upbringing- which was a personal attack. And you don’t seem to understand that ACEs are traumatising experiences that happen both in and outside of loving healthy family relationships.

@Discovereads do you really think it's sensible or safe to risk worsening infection while you spend days faffing about trying to get an appointment with your GP to get them to issue a new prescription, then waiting for that prescription to be filled?

With a 4.5yr old, pinning them down needn't have lasting trauma. You give them a huge cuddle, you tell them that you love them and that you want them to feel better, you say medicine is the only way to get better, you say "I know it's not nice, but you have to take it so you feel better", you show them the lovely treat you have for after, you offer them the option to do it themselves, and if they refuse you very quickly hold them down and administer the dose, while speaking soothingly and lovingly, then you give them a huge cuddle and lots and lots of praise, and the treat. Not pleasant, but not traumatising.

Honestly, it sounds like your parents were just really shitty people. I'm so sorry for that, what happened to you throughout your childhood sounds horrific and you shouldn't have experienced that, but it has definitely coloured your view of this and it is definitely inaccurate to say that a child raised with love and security by decent people will be traumatised by being given lifesaving antibiotics.

Oh trust me I know all about ACEs as a childcare professional.
I also know that pathologising every tiny thing that happens in childhood, such as pinning a child down to administer medication, only serves to convince people that they're traumatised and need medication and therapy which they often don't. And I say that as someone on antidepressants, antipsychotics and in CBT.
But you carry on being irrational and claiming parents are abusive for giving their kids meds.

I had this trouble with my 2.5 yr old, phoned the Dr back and got capsules, he swallowed them fine. 4.5 is too old to pin down.

have you tried fluxocillian. It really is horrible and difficult to disguise in food. I really couldnt get it into ds and the gp gave him an alternative in the end

do you really think it's sensible or safe to risk worsening infection while you spend days faffing about trying to get an appointment with your GP to get them to issue a new prescription, then waiting for that prescription to be filled? No, that’s not what I advised at all. You can go to pharmacist and get same prescription in a different flavour with just a 15min wait, failing that the pharmacist can call the GP and get permission to swap same antibiotic from liquid form to capsule form…usually same day ready by afternoon.

With a 4.5yr old, pinning them down needn't have lasting trauma. You give them a huge cuddle, you tell them that you love them and that you want them to feel better, you say medicine is the only way to get better, you say "I know it's not nice, but you have to take it so you feel better", you show them the lovely treat you have for after, you offer them the option to do it themselves, and if they refuse you very quickly hold them down and administer the dose, while speaking soothingly and lovingly, then you give them a huge cuddle and lots and lots of praise, and the treat. Not pleasant, but not traumatising. We will have to agree to disagree but that is traumatising and chilling to read. I cannot even begin to unpack the issues of trust and consent you are violating there.

definitely inaccurate to say that a child raised with love and security by decent people will be traumatised by being given lifesaving antibiotics

But im not saying that at all. I am saying pinning down a 4yr old and force feeding them antibiotics unless is traumatising and should be an absolute last resort. There are a thousand and one other ways to give a 4yr old “lifesaving antibiotics” that do not involve force feeding.

Flucloxacillin liquid is absolutely foul and I never prescribe it, I'd have to be very desperate. Phone GP or out of hours for an alternative.

You can mix it with jam and out on toast.

@HerRoyalHappiness
But you carry on being irrational and claiming parents are abusive for giving their kids meds.

I did not say that at all. You can 99.9% of the time give your 4yr old medication without force feeding them. It’s the force feeding being used as the preferred, go to method that I have concerns about. 4 is too old for this approach. Parents should try all other means before resorting to using physical force. That’s not irrational at all. What is irrational is your defence of not even trying kinder gentler methods and preferring brute force on a small child who is old enough to reason with.

Your MIL is being a scaremonger - meningitis is a very rare complication of a middle ear infection... according to the NHS...

Bribe with sweets/smarties. Take medicine and then eat sweets/smarties after dose to take taste away. Little drink too, ‘it’ll make you feel better after’.

@Discovereads do you also let your kids' teeth rot when they refuse to have them brushed? Did you leave them sitting in their own shit when they didn't want their nappies changed? Did you let them run into the road when they didn't want to stand with you?

Your trauma is tainting your perspective. Sometimes, in order to be a good parent, you have to physically make your children do things they don't want to do.

This was us last week with 4.5 year old DS and a week long course of antibiotics We pinned him down initially which was upsetting for all of us. What then worked was:

1. Get Well Soon with Dr Ranj. There’s an episode on injections which was a similar enough idea to antibiotics and why they’re necessary.


2. bribery! Nine smarties on a plate with a chocolate button for good measure. But if medicine then fruit juice immediately to take the taste away and then a smartie! We explained it was yukky but necessary and to our amazement it worked.

Good luck! I got very stressed because I was then away with work and we needed DH to give it three times a day on his own which we were amazed was possible and relatively painless. I think DS has only just reached a point where we can reason with him so your DD may or may not be ready for reasoning.

Co-amoxiclav isn't too bad taste-wise I don't think, and should also cover ear infections. I think it's reasonable to go via 111 or your GP to try and get an alternative prescribed.

@MolliciousIntent
do you also let your kids' teeth rot when they refuse to have them brushed? No, but I worked around that so they were happy to brush their teeth. Also took them to dentist and hygenist every six months from age 2.

Did you leave them sitting in their own shit when they didn't want their nappies changed? No, surprisingly babies actually prefer to not sit in their own shit and be in clean, dry nappies. Claiming they like to sounds like something a neglectful parent would say.

Did you let them run into the road when they didn't want to stand with you? No. they were happy to hold my hand because they had absolute trust in me. Trust I never violated by “speaking lovingly and soothingly” while pinning them down and force feeding them for example.

Your trauma is tainting your perspective. Sometimes, in order to be a good parent, you have to physically make your children do things they don't want to do. Oh fuck off, my trauma isn’t clouding anything. You don’t get to use my childhood to silence me or my opinion. Frankly, you don’t sound like a very good parent if you have to rely on physical force to encourage your children to learn how to do things they don’t want to do but need to do. Its draconian and there are much better ways to parent.

(In case this isn’t clear - I also agree you’ve got no choice but to pin them down if they won’t take them and that can be the kindest way. Try to explain and give plenty of cuddles afterwards.)