So today I experienced my first encounter with trying to give foul tasting medicine to a toddler. Following a visit to our GP yesterday, Burton was prescribed a course of anti-biotics in liquid form – 5 ml to be taken 4 times a day until the contents of the bottle have been emptied. Having been warned by the pharmacist that this medicine did not taste nice and my best bet was to mix it with a little calpol or some chocolate mousse to try and soften the bitterness, I knew that Burton was probably not going to enjoy taking it as much as he likes having calpol. However,before I attempted to get him to take a spoonful, I was feeling pretty confident that it wouldn’t be too much of a problem if i told him it was calpol! Hmmm oh dear! How wrong I was!
To be fair yesterday we did get the first spoonful in no problem because I told him it was calpol and he did pull a face afterwards but a drink of squash took away the after taste. After his bath it was time for another dose of the evil meds and he refused point blank and didn’t fall for my “but it’s calpol Burton, and you like calpol” routine at all. However, Daddy came to the rescue and bribed him with a chocolate biscuit and an episode of Peppa Pig on You Tube, which actually got increased to two episodes by Burton! He is a good negotiator , unlike mummy and daddy it would seem!
This morning, however, despite telling Daddy and I that he would take his medicine as long as he could have a jaffa cake and five episodes of Peppa Pig, when it came to trying to put the spoon into his mouth he changed his mind and no amount of persuading him or bribing him would make him open his mouth. Daddy and I reasoned with him and explained why he had to take the medicine but he wouldn’t let us give it to him. Eventually after about 40 minutes of negotiations, Daddy filled the syringe and I tried to administer it to him while he was held down but Burton just spat it out! Nightmare!
So I asked on twitter to see if anyone could suggest anything that might help
Twitter how do you get a toddler to take a foul tasting medicine? Burton isnt budging despite all sorts of bribes!!
As always I was blown away by all of the replies I received and a BIG thank you to all of you who took the time to reply. From reading the tweets in my timeline I have learnt the following tip with regards to getting your child to take devil juice medicine:
disguise the flavour
ice cream, jam, orange juice, milkshake, yogurt and chocolate were suggested
make threats
these included; having to have an injection, take them to hospital, and take them to the doctors
bribery
anything that will get them to take them although chocolate of some description seemed to be the most popular
force
if all else fails, pin your child down and force it inside their mouths via a spoon or a syringe. Not the nicest method it was agreed but sometimes has to be done to get the meds inside them
We had tried, unsuccessfully, all of these techniques (except the threats one as he doesn’t understand about hospitals and injections. although I did tell him that the area in question that he is taking the meds for could drop off if he didn’t take his medicine!!! *hangs head in shame*)
So the only thing I could think to do was phone my GP back and explain the situation and see if there were any different antibiotics Burton could be prescribed instead. He did and the new meds were tried out at tea time and they are better because they can be taken with meals this time too. So to begin with Burton wasn’t going to try this new yellow medicine, the previous one was neon pink, and although it doesn’t taste lovely it is not as bad as the other one.
Anyway, in the end I worked out a plan of attack and made the following bribe proposal to him:
if he takes his medicine which mummy will mix in with one of his fromage frais, and he can wash it down with a jaffa cake and some of mummy’s squash, in return he will get a sticker and if he gets all of his stickers on his reward chart, then mummy will take him to buy a Peppa Pig (his new fav at the moment) DVD
Once I persuaded him to try a little of the ‘fromage frais’, he realised that he couldn’t taste the medicine and he ate it all!!! I was so chuffed and wanted to dance a little victory dance around the downstairs rooms, but I restrained myself.
I just hope he keeps up the momentum tomorrow and the next day and possibly the day after that!
Are there any methods you emily that haven’t already been mentioned here? Please say if this is so as it is always useful to know!
*I would like to add that since I wrote this post, Burton decided he wouldn’t swallow the second medicine he was prescribed and Daddy had to use the ‘force’ method each time by holding him down and forcing the syringe into his mouth which was not nice or enjoyable for all involved. *
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Thank goodness he’s started taking them now. It’s very distressing for all concerned isn’t it?
Oh its horrible, isn’t it, trying to get antibiotics down a small child. Roo gets a lot of ear infections due to glue ear, and we always have amoxicillin (AKA banana medicine) but because her colds stops her sleeping we get phenergan too, which is a nasty burnt orange tasting antihistamine.
I have tried everything you did, eventually mixing it with a fromage frais, except we didn’t tell her. And thought we’d been super clever, until one day she said she didn’t want a medicine yoghurt. OH!
Now I sometimes have to resort to brute force with a syringe and a chocolate button.
Hope he’s feeling better x
It’s difficult. I haven’t had any really horrible antibiotics to give yet, but did fail miserably with antihistamines.
Oh dr, poor little man. It’s hard when they’re little because they don’t understand what the benefits ar. At least he did take it in the end.
if we’re allowed to add things to it you’d think the company would to – duuurrrr.
Thankfully I haven’t encountered this, but with motherhood…. I have to add a “yet”….
xxx
I think te threat option could make more problems. I have a huge phobia of needles not helped by childhood experiences. My son hates medicine and the syringe method works the best I have found…
The bit where you told him the bit would fall off made me giggle. It sounds like something I would do. It’s such a nightmare even getting calpol into z and i usually end up squirting it into his mouth when he’s crying.
We had this, we went down the chocolate after medicine route! Its a nightmare!
Oh nightmare that in the end he had to be pinned down, but needs must and he must have it! It really does taste foul though, why they can’t make these things nicer I’ll never know!
We had huge problems (involving me wearing a huge amount of buttercup syrup) for this reason till we realised that if we put a drop of calpol on the bottom of the medicine spoon and then the actual medicine on top, the last taste my son got was the calpol going down. He knew it wasn’t exactly the same but he DID take his medicine.
yay well done on finding a solution that worked, I thankfully have had very few episodeds where medicine is needed how quite I have survived that in the 10 years of my eldest Im not too sure lol
This has given me a giggle while I am in the depths of medicine refusal misery from two children (2 and 3 years old!), daughter is easier to bribe and responds well to the threat of hospital (she has been there before!) son on the other hand refuses point blank to take anything! We have tried everything above, it’s nice to see we are not the only parents suffering, son is on second lot of meds now…strawberry flavoured, easy to diguise as milkshake! But daughter on fluxocillin for chicken pox infection and son hasn’t got chicken pox yet, hope his aren’t as bad as my daughters as there is no way on earth I will get that vile tasting stuff down him four times a day! Nice to read this to see other people suffer the same problems….longest week ever in our house!