How do you get medicine down your child!

[Filltheglass]

Have a 21 month old, she has scarlet fever and was given a course of liquid penicillin, she will not take it!! Two days now me and my partner have tried to get it down her! She thrashes about, try to syringe it in and she just spits it out, tried putting it in her sippy cup, she takes one sip then won't have any more! Tried giving it to her in a cup, she takes a sip then spits it out! Weve got 8 more days of this and she hasn't really had the full 5ml each time we've tried! Any tips please 🙏🏽

I had this. We bought a doctors role play kit and spend playing giving her teddy's and each other plasters/ bandages and water in a calpol syringe. Eventually added the real medicine in and it worked pretty quickly!

Thankyou this sounds really good! I remember pretending to feed her baby doll first when she was refusing food and she started to eat it! So this might work aswell!! Thankyou for the reply! ♥️

Mixed into yoghurt

Lie child down on the floor between your open legs, facing away from you. Head clamped between your thighs/squished into your crotch, arms pinned under your thighs and legs under your lower legs.
Put syringe into cheek, squirt a tiny little bit, keep it there until swallowed (hard to spit with something between your lips). Keep going bit by bit - don't squirt too much at once in this position as you'll cause gagging and choking which is obviously horrible for you both.
Not pleasant but keeps them effectively still enough for meds.
Only necessary if all the attempts at persuasion etc have failed!

Swaddle in a towel, jam the syringe into the back of her cheek and blow on her face to make her swallow. Got the technique from the vet nurse for the cat but it also works wonderfully for stubborn toddlers. I know not nice but it’s quick and efficient, and it’s so important the infection is treated and she gets the full course. Then a drink of juice or squash afterwards to take away the taste and maybe a chocolate button for taking it like a champ!

Sadly becoming an expert at this. It's trial and error and when something is working, suddenly they'll change their mind and you have to find another way!

Things that have been successful:
Annoying youtube video that puts them in a trance and they can only watch while taking their medicine (eg baby shark, there is a baby shark taking medicine version)
Masking taste in milkshake/juice/melt ice cream plus lots of magic sprinkles on top (if it is a med that can be taken with food)
Fave drink with a straw for sips between medicine mouthfuls
Playing giving medicine to you or to teddy, then their turn,
playing with syringes in the bath, shooting water
Giving with a spoon instead of shooting with a syringe if they prefer that
Letting them hold the syringe in their mouth, press plunger together
Any med that can be another route, can try that (eg paracetamol suppository)
Ask doctor if alternative med available (I think penicillin is one of the foulest tasting ones). Might be better to have a full dose of a slightly less ideal alternative, than a 10th of the gold standard one? Up to doctor of course, but no harm asking them and letting them know you are struggling with the current prescription.
Lots of praise and stickers after
Staying as calm as possible and acknowledging that they don't like it helps I think.

Good luck!!!!!!

Also I would be careful with the advice above to just force it. I did that with one of my 3 kids for a similar penicillin course when around 2 y.o., in desperation. It's led to no end of problems now they have a chronic condition. They have built up a massive aversion to all medicines, even nice tasting ones.

It's really worth trying other tactics before creating anxiety or aversion around medicines!

This is what I used to do too. The children are older now and you can reason with them. I know it’s not nice but it’s effective. Big cuddle after and a sweetie.

Never ever pin down and force. You're giving them something unusual out of the blue and squirting it in their mouth. Of course they're going to resist.

Medicine on a spoon (always spoon, never syringe) in one hand chocolate button in the other. Each time he reached for the button I offered the spoon and said "you can have a button after your medicine". Repeat repeat repeat. I also gave Teddy a button after he'd "tasted" the medicine to show him.

Did this from one year old and after a few times of needing to do this he just took the medicine without buttons anymore.

Thankyou all for the advice! Next round is coming up soon so fingers crossed! 😄

Unfortunately this doesn't work with all children.
My own son quite happily takes syringes and presses the plunger himself- clearly we are the lucky ones whose children are happy to cooperate, but sometimes nothing works and then the parent has to force the child if the medication is essential. That's being a parent, just the same as lifting them up to leave the park if they won't come.

Mix it in with anything that they will actually eat

Jam
Chocolate spread
Ice cream
Yogurt
Fromage fraid

Swaddle in a towel, jam the syringe into the back of her cheek and blow on her face to make her swallow. Got the technique from the vet nurse for the cat but it also works wonderfully for stubborn toddlers. I know not nice but it’s quick and efficient, and it’s so important the infection is treated and she gets the full course. Then a drink of juice or squash afterwards to take away the taste and maybe a chocolate button for taking it like a champ

Exactly this. For one that a big adult size bath sheet, or failing this a cot sheet. Wrap well like a cocoon making sure arms are inside and pinned. You can get syringe back between teeth and blow on face or simulate tickle throat, anything that gives a swallow reflex. Ignore anyone who tells you this is abusive. It’s far more abusive to not give required medicine and risk clinical deterioration.

@HiCandles

Yes, the OP has said her child fights syringes. Mine did too. Just spat it out. All the side of the cheek tricks didn't work and I could see the problem was going to be compounded by continuing that way or trying to force.

I will bodily lift my son if he's in danger or a danger to others. But physically pinning him down and clamping his head between my legs to administer medication while he gags and cries doesn't sit right with me. As an absolute last resort I understand, but I don't think it needs to get to that place for most kids. Toddlers are driven by what they want so I'm sure at 21 months old the OP can find something her child likes and explain the concept, modelling with a beloved teddy bear first.

OP, even try a different brand. My son isn't keen on calpol, although he'll take it, and prefers the taste of the generic pharmacy first stuff.

Just reading back the thread to find where anyone said it's abusive or not to give a sick child medication.

It's ok to take a bit of time over these things. I think a lot of parents panic when techniques aren't working and jump too quickly to restraining. I've been there. I started to try holding my son for a certain procedure once and quickly realised it was a bad idea.

Instead we sat in his room together with a chocolate biscuit waiting on the table and I explained why we needed this medicine and that he could get his chocolate biscuit afterwards. It took half an hour of waiting together but he did it willingly. It's ok to wait it out a while.

I also make a big point of him seeing us taking medication when we need it so that he sees this is something everyone does from time to time.

It's worth it for a child who will trust you and take medication willingly, rather than compounding the fear and having a fight and a wrestle with a crying child every time.

I mix it into yoghurt. Then tell her it's a magical yoghurt that will help her feel better.

Instead we sat in his room together with a chocolate biscuit waiting on the table and I explained why we needed this medicine and that he could get his chocolate biscuit afterwards. It took half an hour of waiting together but he did it willingly. It's ok to wait it out a while

Yes, obviously it goes without saying that if the child is of an age and ability where explaination/reason will work then of course you try these avenues. Your child was of an age and ability where this would work but children below a certain developmental stage (as opposed to age as they reach this at different ages, lots of variability) any amount of explanation will be futile, you may as well try quantum physics, it would have the same effect. Once children have reached that point then it’s obvious that’s the path you go down and you exhaust it to make sure that’s the only way left. What you don’t do though, is ‘exhaust’ it for days where a child goes without required treatment.

Had this exact issue with my daughter at the same age. I’m not against holding a child down to get essential medication into them but it just wasn’t working, spilling everywhere, trashing about etc it was a disaster. I got a tub of Nutella, a heaped tablespoon in a cup, microwave for 10 seconds so it melts and can mix the medicine in. She loved it, we would play doctor with her “pretend” chocolate medicine 😉 and she took it no problem. Went through a pretty big tub of Nutella since it was 4 times a day for 10 days but needs must!

My children are pretty good now at medicine, but when needed, we've held their arms, and squirted it into the side of the mouth, head tilted up to prevent it coming out.

It’s not paracetamol the OP is trying to get down him though it’s liquid penicillin, penicillin V I think it’s called. That stuff genuinely tastes disgusting and the aftertaste is foul, my best description would be how I imagine battery acid tastes. You can’t hide it in food. It’s really important that her child gets it though as scarlet fever can have nasty complications.

It’s worth begging for liquid amoxicillin in future. As it’s only 3 doses a day it’s easier. It needs kept in the fridge so not good for sending backwards and forwards to childcare / school. It also has a pleasant banana flavour 🤫

Of course not. I agree. But I would do my damn best to try everything before physically restraining. Sometimes that means sticking with one technique for a while and just sitting with them. No toys or distractions.

My son was not even one and a half. He understood "medicine then biscuit" just by modelling with a bear and sitting until it was done. Me simply explaining "medicine makes you feel better" is no more language than I would have used at that age for anything. Just because they don't understand everything you say yet doesn't mean you should just restrain them without trying. It's worth it in the long run.

Watching for tips but some children just can’t be talked around or reasoned with on this.

My toddler DD can’t reason that if she has the yucky medicine she can have chocolate afterwards.

I’ve tried disguising it in food and drink, she takes one sip or bite then doesn’t trust any food or drink for a while.

She has always detested medicine, won’t even take nurofen or calpol. We had to try and pin her down to take some this week and I felt like an abusive parent.

@Abitorangelooking

Yes it's vile. Been there! I get it that it's hard. I just don't want to pin my child down in a makeshift straitjacket and clamp his head between my knees if I can avoid it. I think in most cases this is avoidable.

What age is she?

I held spoon with medicine in one hand and chocolate in the other. When he reached for the chocolate I slightly pulled away and put the spoon closer. "Medicine first". Kept doing this until he took the medicine.

I used to go for simple bribery. Find a sweet they like, one sweet in each hand, take the medicine, first sweet takes away the taste, second is the reward for taking it