My son won't take his medicine (long)

[Anne MN]

My kids love the "pink stuff" but what they have had for strep lately is Zythromax (also pink stuff, just does not taste as good)
I have 1 DD (11) who takes the worst tasting medicines, so amoxicillin and tylenol (NO mortin for her, bleeding issues)
what I did when the older girls were smaller was the "chaser" take a swallow, medicine, more juice...
and if they would not take it, they would get their nose held and it squirted in their mouth and swallowed. that worked, they closed their mouth and the swallow reflex kicked in with them.
hope you have better luck- i have also gotten truely nasty medicine down other DD's by mixing it with drinkable yougart (recent) or applesauce (pills crushed)
Ped and nurse also came up with a few way back when that i can't remember anymore

 

[CathrynRose]

Because he is lying on the slack of the pillowcase, his own body weight makes it impossible for him to pull his arms out of the pillowcase.

Still not the best description...sorry. Words are failing me today.

I got it now ... thanks!

I dont know how you get them to submit to this in the first place, though! Good job!!!

 

[robinb]

I'm afraid if I go to our peds for the shot, the ER will then be considered non-emergency and our insurance will deny it. I'm already out $150 for the co-pay. I'm already mad I took him there because there is a chance that they will say it wasn't an emergency and deny the claim. I was going to go to the urgent care like I normally do but the phone nurse talked me into the ER.

How long does it take for the regular strep culture to come back? Is it possible that you could wait until you get those results before you go to your Ped for a shot? IIRC, the shot works very quickly so even if he gets it tomorrow he should be feeling better by Saturday. Although I don't know about him being contagious.

I have a little trick for the Tylenol/Motrin. I put a regular pill in a spoonful of applesauce. The applesauce helps my DD swallow the pill and it rarely gets "stuck" on the way in or down. Make sure not to get the Extra-Strength kind! It's way too much medicine for a little body. I really had to search for the 325mg regular strength Tylenol.

Good luck! It really helped my earlier knowing that other people had the same problem with their kids.

 

[Christine]

Call your ped and ask for the chewable amoxicillan. We went on chewables as soon as we could because we always had problems with the liquids. They taste pretty good, almost as good as a Flintstone vitamin!

 

[luvmy2sams]

DD7 and DS2 both hated the tastes of any antibiotics until our pharmacy started using the flavorings. Now it's not a big problem. Before this the only way DD would take medicine was to do a syringe and then immediately let her have a small spoon of brown sugar. Worked like a charm.

 

[robinb]

I forgot to add ... I feel your pain:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=971158

 

[Denine]

DD hates medicine period. When she had a bad ear infection, we ended up buying a McD choc milkshake. We would pour out some milkshake and mix it with the medicine. It worked. 1 shake lasted a few days in the fridge, even though it was no longer frozen.

Good luck!

 

[RitaZ.]

Ok, I have a less conventional approach. I can't really take credit for it, as I read it in one of Dr. Brazelton's books years ago. Anyway, in that book, he described how his DD refused to take her medicine and fluids when she was sick. Whenever he gave her the medicine, she'd spit it right out. He finally told her that she could continue to spit it out, but he'd continue to give it to her until she swallowed it. After that, she swallowed.

We tried so many different things with our kids: holding them down, pinching their cheeks & nose, bribing; you name it. There was the time that DS refused to take Motrin when he had roseola. I had to give him suppositories, it was horrible. DH wanted not part of it, he held DS down, closed his eyes and looked away. When I read about Dr. B's experience with his daughter, I decided to give it a try with my kids. Whenever any of them refused to take medicine, I calmly told them that they could spit out the medicine as many times as they wanted to, but I'd just continue to give it to them until they swallowed. Surprinsingly, it worked. Of course, I doubt this will work for all children, especially when they are really young. Just thought I'd share.

Good luck!

 

[tar heel]

This may be mean, but I would tell him that he has to have the medicine to get well and that if he doesn't take the liquid, he will have to have the shot.

In Amoxicillin, my kids had a strong preference for the pink pills crushed in applesauce. You might want to ask for that next time or even see if you could get them for this time.

My 11-year-old is a terror about medicine, too. He is on a daily med and he takes it in a spoonful of stirred up ice cream.

 

[hentob]

The shot hurts for a bit, but it is once and done. Call me a cruel mom, but my children get the shot as soon as they test positive for Strep.

They feel better the very next day

 

[illini]

The only thing that works for my son who turned 5 today(OMG where does the time go?) is to give him a popsicle first to numb his mouth. I too had medicine spit back at me I did about lose it! Someone suggested the mouth numb and it works like a charm!
Love the mouth numb!

 

[Banzai]

When I was tested for it this winter, I had blood taken and a strep culture. The mono test came back in a few hours, but the strep was 2 days. I went to the hospital on Monday AM and by Weds i got my results for strep. Both postive, though

 

[jenr812]

The popsicle is a great idea. My 3 yo takes his meds better with a straw

 

[tsd1202]

my DS3 will take his meds much better now if it is flavored or even when it wasn't I could pour the dose in one of those small medicine cups and cut a straw into thirds and let him suck it out with one- he always gets it all b/c he likes that annoying slurping sound a straw makes when you get to the bottom- I always say "don't you suck it all down and make that sound- stop, stop it's driving me crazy" of course he will laugh and just suck harder just to irritate me- works like a charm. I usually hold the cup and hold it to the side and move it back and forth when he gets to the bottom so he WILL get it all. Amazing what they will do to irritate us- it's like he doesn't even think about the taste- just bugging me.