Help. DD is refusing medicine.

[haveyourcakeandeatit]

DD is 17 months and has a fever, her temp has been up and down for the last 24 hours. DH and I have been alternating calpol and ibuprofen but the problem is that she absolutely hates taking it, we have to pin her down and try getting as much in her mouth little by little. Most of it she pushes out anyway.

Tbh she's always been like this and when she was smaller we could easily hide it in her milk. But nowadays I think she's wise to it.

It's becoming so distressing for both DD and us that I dread the next upcoming dose.

Please can anyone share your experiences or tips on how to make this less scary for us all.

Many thanks

Thanks so much for the comments and advice, will take some of them onboard. However, I've never heard of not giving medicine to a child with a fever...this is new to me.

Great tip! Thank you

We’ve struggled with medicine a few times. The same tricks don’t always work but we had some success with putting it in juice in a sippy cup. Alternatively, a quarter of a chocolate button balanced on the tip of the syringe and squirt it in about 1ml at a time.

Lots of people seem to advocate the ‘no fuss, pun they down and squirt it in’ approach, but it never worked for us as he’d get so distressed that he would vomit it all straight back.

Good luck, it’s crap for a couple of days.

I hadn't heard of not giving medicine for fevers until recently either but it does make sense when you read about it. I try and avoid treating a fever now and let it do it's job unless we're in pain as well.

I try and avoid treating a fever now and let it do it's job unless we're in pain as well.

The fever isn’t doing any kind of job - it’s just your body reacting to your immune system responding. It’s your immune system that’s doing a job. But your immune system responds just the same (does it’s job) when you’ve taken a paracetamol and feel less like shit as a result.
It sounds like really naff advice, but have you tried just putting it on a spoon OP? We generally went with the pin down approach since DS was resistant and calpol does come with a syringe so it seems the obvious solution… but I think kids do learn to fear said syringe. Once I put it on a spoon DS realised it actually tasted quite nice - and then commenced crying because having more than one spoonful is obviously a no no. (You can’t win).

These are the NICE guidelines for treating fever in children - only give medication if the child is distressed or in pain.
I've always been told that your immune system raises your body's temperature (fever) in order to make it more difficult for bacteria and viruses to continue growing and replicating.

The fever isn’t doing any kind of job - it’s just your body reacting to your immune system responding. It’s your immune system that’s doing a job.

This isn't correct. The current understanding is that it is the other way round - the fever actually stimutaltes the immune system.

I completely understand this. My DS is almost 3 and is ASD. I can't get any medicine in, so recently we've had to get some suppository from pharmacy. They are quite expensive. Around £25 for like 3 days worth, but we have no other choice. These do work and is an alternative to help keep pain and fever down. Hope this helps and hope your lil one gets better. X

I'm all for not giving meds for a raised temperature if they're well in themselves - but let's face it, parents are usually reaching for a thermometer for a reason. I know I feel miserable whenever I have a fever and my DC are clearly the same.

OP we went with the holding the arms down while sitting up, and then small bits into the side of their cheek. The branded Calpol with sugar always went down best here, and hopefully you're not too far off the point where she realises it tastes nice. My DCs' eyes light up these days when they see the Calpol bottle.

@Kitten22 you can get GP to prescribe them

Chocolate buttons in her mouth BEFORE the medicine: coats the tongue and diluted the taste.

Medicine syringe into the corner of her mouth, under her tongue and quick as a flash another chic button.