Anyone else have a child who WILL NOT take medicine?

[RMulieri]

My dd4 never gives me a problem with oral meds...but eye drops( she got pinkeye yesterday)I basically have to try and hold her down and get those drops in...which isn't easy since she scrunches her eyes shut and jerks her head...any advice?

 

[MandM-Mom]

My middle DD hates to take medicine, she has a sesitive gag reflux and it will just come flying out! We get her anibiotics in a chewable form, which to me seems more disgusting than the liquid and for Tylenol suppositories are used a great deal here.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

It is just tylenol. lol I think the flavorings may be a huge part of the problem. He won't drink juice (loves fruit) or eat fruit flavored candy (chocolate and M&Ms only). /QUOTE]

I know with my DD, she would only take grape flavored Tylenol. Try different flavors. My biggest fights were with, I believe, the strawberry flavored amoxicillin. My DD always ran a high fever and as soon as she got to 100, the vomitting began. At her first birthday she was at 105. If you can't get the tylenol/motrin, etc. down and the suppositories are taking too long, put your child in a tepid bath for 15-20 minutes. It ALWAYS worked to bring the fever down. I've even resorted to bribing DD with a new bathingsuit to get her in the water, but I have to say, after the first time she realized how cold the water was going to feel and it was a much bigger battle at the tub, than for the medicine, but sometimes the medicine wasn't enough. Another tip my pediatrician gave me was, if she was running a fever, to set the alarm and wake her up every 4 hours for more medicine. I always thought she needed her rest more, but he said if you let the fever start to get hold, it will take much longer to get it under control. If you wake them every 4 hours, it doesn't have a chance to build up. BTW, my DD also learned at a very early age to swallow pills. Unfortunately, at the moment, she's on Singular and her dose only comes in a chewable tablet which she HATES. The fights still continue!

 

[monorailsilver]

You can add me to the list of child who won't take medicine.

My oldest took it no problem as does my youngest (both girls).

But my middle child (boy), forget it. Gags, throws up, etc... I had the ped give me an extra day's worth just in case he threw it up.

We used to have to hold him down & give it to him drop by drop.

Then for some reason frosting came to mind. So we'd give him a sip, a few drops, etc... & then give him a small spoonful of frosting & repeat until it was done. And at the end he got a plain scoop of frosting.

Right now he is on ABT's, actually he was on them a few weeks ago & he had chewable Ampicillin & he got it in starburst.

He is on round 2 but on Amoxicillin & they are supposed to be chewable but I don't think they are (I am a nurse I should know right?). The first few doses were in starburst but after an hour of holding it or so it seemed like an hour to us...we got some gummy fish & crushed it & put it in there & he chews it.

So he gets his meds in some kind of chewy candy. He is 4 1/2 BTW so we are still waiting for him to cooperate in taking his meds...I have a feeling I have a few more years ahead of me.

 

[NotUrsula]

With older kids, you can try having them practice swallowing with small candy, such as mini-M&M's, then working up to regular M&M's. It helps to remember to put the tip of your tongue against your teeth as you swallow.

The best flavoring I've ever found for giving liquid meds is a flavored-water product called Kwencher. The stuff is clear, but paralyzingly sweet; like chugging pure saccharine. However, it actually worked to get my DS' Zantac down, and if it will cover that it will cover anything. I mixed it 1:1 with the meds.

My mom used to give me penicillin pills in a chunk of tuna fish when I was little. That worked pretty well because it not only covered the taste but the smell, too.

Pinching the nose will break the lip-lock with little ones, but you have to let go before they can swallow, so it's only good for half the battle. Wrapping the upper body in a towel helps to keep them from flailing and cocking their heads back too far.

 

[SharpMomOfTwo]

Oh goodness do I feel bad for you guys! My DDs (17months and 3 years) have always been great medicine takers! My youngest has been teething for quite some time now, so when shes really bad, we get out the motrin for her, and she comes running! Then my oldest asks if she can have some too (ofcourse we don't let her).
For whatever reason, my oldest has nights where she wakes up crying saying that her legs hurt (growing pains??), so she always tells us that she needs her medicine, and we always give it to her. Little does she know that its an old bottle with just water in it! Makes her happy and she goes back to bed. Again, sorry for you all having such a hard time with the medicine!!

 

[Mkrop]

I have held down many a kid to get meds in. I have found that a particualr flavor and the syringe were the best methods. DS10 was really and still is to a degree paticular he would only do grape, so if I could get the med in grape I was ok, if not then I had the Battle Royal. Also I found he did Motrin better than Tylenol. He said the Tylenol tasted lousy even the grape.

 

[lucigo]

It is just tylenol. lol I think the flavorings may be a huge part of the problem. He won't drink juice (loves fruit) or eat fruit flavored candy (chocolate and M&Ms only).
QUOTE]

If its just Tylenol you are trying to give him save yourself the trouble and just give him a suppository. I know it sounds worse but its really not.

 

[Desnik]

DS has a very sensitive gag reflex and has suffered from reflux. He would always throw up any meds I tried to give him. He is almost 5 and I have finally found 2 ways to give him meds. If he has a cold I can give him Triamenic Grape flavor inside his HiC grape juice box. He can't taste it in there. I can also do this with the grape flavored tylenol. Then if he has to take an antibiotic I make him sip juice from his drink box while I squirt the meds in his mouth from the dropper/syringe. It helps him not really taste the meds and he does it fast so it's not lingering in his mouth. I also have a piece of chocolate handy for a reward!

 

[semo233]

I had the same problem and now that my daughter is 11, she will still not take anything that she does not like the taste of.
Try to work with your child to see if they can swallow pills. Mine could before she was 3. Then work with your doctor and pharmacist to dispense medications in the proper dose in pill form. You may have to cut the pills in half, but it is easier than fighting. Believe me, it is easier than pinning down a 1 1/2 year old to force liquid down!

 

[tonilea]

He is running a fever again this evening. If he still has one in the am, I guess we will be going to the doctor tomorrow for a shot!

He doesn't have a high fever and he doesn't act terribly ill, but this is the end of day two.

 

[disneywith4boys]

Freeze pops always work for us. I let them such and chew on a big chunk first- it sort of numbs the mouth, then they take the medicine quickly, then I quickly stick the rest of the freeze pop back in thier mouth to mask the flavor and re-"freeze" the mouth. I also love the mucinex mini-melts for colds and coughs- its the only med my kids will take without complaining. I even had to put it in our highest cabinent out of reach so they wouldn't get to it. I never had to do this with any other med!

 

[brighteyes]

My DS was classic for this as he had to take ALOT of medicine for monthly ear infections and high fevers when he was little. I tried every flavour of Tylenol. I think I finally stuck with the Xstrength Tempra as it was liquid form and could get banana flavoured. A funny story when I tried the disolving tablets which were grape, he threw it up and still to this day will not eat anything purple.

I used and still do use the liquid dispensers that come with the liquid med and would squeeze a tiny bit, like less than 1 cc or ml of the medicine into the side of DS mouth and then he would take a big big drink of water, and then was allowed one chip or one bite of favourite snack. Then one squirt of medicine, one drink, one bite, and so on until all usually 5mls of the medicine was gone. Worked like a charm.

DS used to get such high fevers and dr suggested to hide his medicine in a glass of pop but then he wouldn't drink the whole can, then would try injecting the medicine into a freezie, anything liquid to keep him hydrated but he caught on, so finally the above method worked. Dr basically said any liquid you can get into him when he has a fever and any way you can get medicine into him do it.

Now if DS needs to take pill form, we bury the pill in a spoon of applesauce, he knows its there but helps him swallow.

Good luck.

Stephanie

 

[brighteyes]

He is running a fever again this evening. If he still has one in the am, I guess we will be going to the doctor tomorrow for a shot!

He doesn't have a high fever and he doesn't act terribly ill, but this is the end of day two.

How is your DS? I hope he is feeling better.

Stephanie

 

[tonilea]

Thanks for asking about him!

We took him to the doctor on Friday. He said it was probably viral and he should start feeling better soon. Still running a fever today. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a different story.

I tried to convince him to take some medicine today. He wasn't having any of it. He told me, "The doctor said, I will feel better soon!"

This sounds terrible, but tonight I snuck up on him and got a dose of medicine down him with minimal fight. He promptly vomited it up. It kinda aggravated me, so I took him to the kitchen table, put him in a booster seat, gave him some Sprite and told him we were going to do this over and over and over until he didn't puke. After a brief struggle, I gave him the medicine, told him to drink the Sprite and if he puked we would do it again and again and again. He kept it down. He was pretty angry with me, but at least he got some cold medicine in him and neither of us were puked on again.

 

[brighteyes]

Thanks for asking about him!

We took him to the doctor on Friday. He said it was probably viral and he should start feeling better soon. Still running a fever today. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a different story.

I tried to convince him to take some medicine today. He wasn't having any of it. He told me, "The doctor said, I will feel better soon!"

This sounds terrible, but tonight I snuck up on him and got a dose of medicine down him with minimal fight. He promptly vomited it up. It kinda aggravated me, so I took him to the kitchen table, put him in a booster seat, gave him some Sprite and told him we were going to do this over and over and over until he didn't puke. After a brief struggle, I gave him the medicine, told him to drink the Sprite and if he puked we would do it again and again and again. He kept it down. He was pretty angry with me, but at least he got some cold medicine in him and neither of us were puked on again.

Aww I feel your pain, my DS still hates ANYTHING purple. Won't even touch grapejuice it brings back horrific memories of disolvables.

Did you try the syringe method with a little bit at a time in between bites or drinks of his favourite food/drink? after so many bites, drinks, they can hardly taste the medicine. And did I mention LITTLE squirts, like half a mm? I never let it touch the tip of the tongue, always toward the back so they can't taste it as much.

Well it sounds like your DS is making progress. Did you act like it was the best thing in the world he did?

I finally told my son that if he did not take his medicine, and his fever got too high we would be going to the hospital and he would have to stay there for days. I think it worked. We did end up in the ER frequently unfortunately b/c even with medicine sometimes his fever would not come down and he usually had seizures with his fevers.

Hope this gets better for you and him with the medicine.

Stephanie

 

[tonilea]

Did you try the syringe method with a little bit at a time in between bites or drinks of his favourite food/drink? after so many bites, drinks, they can hardly taste the medicine. And did I mention LITTLE squirts, like half a mm? I never let it touch the tip of the tongue, always toward the back so they can't taste it as much.

Stephanie

I would LOVE to try that, but it is a fight just to get it close to his mouth. If I get it open enough to get the syringe even a little in, it is all going in.... I do try to get meds that use the smallest volume though.

 

[brighteyes]

I would LOVE to try that, but it is a fight just to get it close to his mouth. If I get it open enough to get the syringe even a little in, it is all going in.... I do try to get meds that use the smallest volume though.

I hear you on that one, it took awhile before DS got to the stage of even trying. Good plan though, all at once.

It so hard when they are soo miserable and could just do one simple thing to make themselves feel a little better and they don't.

Stephanie

 

[Mouse House Mama]

My kids will take medicine with no problem. However my oldest sometimes cannot keep it down. He knows when that is going to happen and will tell us before we even give him the meds. He is not being fresh. He doesn't mind taking meds and always wants to feel better but for some reason his body can't tolerate them sometimes. This is especially cute when you are in the ER and the nurses insist that "he'll be fine, we'll give him a drink" WOW! I never thought of that!!! Only once we let him take the meds after we told them he would puke it up and as soon as it hit his stomach he puked. It made me so mad. But they would not give him a shot until then. Now I insist on the shot no matter what they say. Idiots.

ETA- Please don't get mad at your kids for puking up their meds. Not every kid can help it. Trust me. My son does not want to puke but his stomach cannot tolerate meds sometimes when he is sick.

 

[brighteyes]

I understand not being able to tolerate the meds if you're sick. But my DS would puke if it touched his tongue, almost any kind of med, before he even swallowed it except the banana flavoured. So this was not the same thing.

Never really got mad, just a big sigh and here we go again. Until I found something that worked for him to take the medicine. Wow, we were both so proud of him that he took it with no complaint. Even now at 12 we have to do the same thing.

Stephanie