My daughter, almost 2 1/2, is being treated for Strep Throat this weekend. It has been so difficult to give her the Amoxicillin twice a day and Advil when she had a fever. How do you get your toddler to take medicine without tears? It doesn't help that I got sick from her too. I have tried everything I can think of and the suggestion of mixing chocolate syrup in her medicine. She constantly spits it out and the first time she threw up. I have been told to hold her nose but that isn't working either. Offering cookies and M & M's hasn't worked. I have used a syringe and little measuring cup for different delivery methods. Is there anything else I can do? Thank you.
Sounds reallly bad, but I treat my kiddies the same as the dogs when it comes to medicines - use an eye-dropper and aim for the back corners of the jaws. Most stuff that lands there goes down because of reflexes and they can't gag on it.
I have found bridery does not work.
Good luck - a sick kiddo is no fun. :-(
~C.
It's hard, isn't it? My little guy (29 mos) is sick and refusing his meds so I tried putting it in his ice water in his sippy cup...but because his throat is hurting he doesn't even want to drink it and he LOVES ice water. Vanilla Cupcake Goldfish, a sucker, and applesauce didn't work either :(
I don't have a syringe, wish I did, so this morning I just flat-out told him he had to take it so he would feel better, and held him so I could see his mouth and gave a bit at a time, along with much squirming, crying and fussing, used my finger to touch under his chin to get him to swallow, (trick a nurse taught me years ago) until it was "all gone." He actually did take it all without spitting any out, but to answer your question, I truly don't know if there's a way to get your toddler to take their medicine without tears...unless it's to try this (something I'm kicking myself for not doing yet) get a bottle of Yo Gabba Gabba! Medicine-time Spray:
http://www.amazon.com/Yo-Gabba-Medicine-Time-Flavor-Spray...
My neighbor says it works (and her child is the one to test it on as he doesn't stand for ANYTHING he doesn't want to do) and she sprays it before and after the medicine. It coats their tongue with a yummy taste so they don't taste the medicine, is made by the company that makes the flavoring they add to meds at the pharmacies and I am ordering a bottle today for next time ; )
I have always called my son's medicine his candy medicine. He has had some runs with strep so I feel ya! I would call his advil, cherry candy medicine and his tylenol grape candy medicine, bc that is the flavors those usually come in. I would call his amoxicillin, bubble gum candy medicine ;) Then I just put the syringe in his mouth toward the cheek and shoot it in as fast as possible!! He is a feisty little man and this has always worked. I think putting it in something could work as well if she has gotten a little anxiety about it and then you can try the candy thing later when she has gotten over the angst of taking medicine. My son would not let the dr check his ears for anything for a long time! I guess it must have hurt at some point, he finally got over it and does it like a champ now, so I do think it will pass eventually, hang in there!
aww poor little thing. I am allergic to amoxicillian but I remember when we were kids my brother loved the taste of it. is it the liquid form, because you are going to taste that no matter what you mix it with. if you can get her the pill form you can crush it and put it in jelly or applesauce.
I mix my son's meds with flavored applesause. I have also made smoothes and taken just a little bit in a small cup and add meds. I tell him its a taste test and if he drinks it all gone he can have a big cup.
I usually do is when my kids have to take medicine that they don't like is:
Have a cup with water beside me,and tell them to take little sips of their medicine and hand the water to them immdeialty,so it flushs down and do it back and forth til the medicine is all gone. It usually works well with my kids. Just a thought if nothing else helps. :)
Best Luck!!
See if you can get the remainder flavored. Many places flavor it - target has bubble gum and fruit flavor. Having water or juice right there for yucky tasting stuff also helps. My son will take yucky medicine if he knows he can drink something good to make the bad taste go away.
Also, see if you can involve her in taking it - not MAKING her take it, but having her give it to herself. Since my son was little, one thing I did was involve him in the medicine taking. I didn't "give" it to him. He helped me get it ready for him to take. I'd hold the bottle, he'd pull the syringe and fill it with the medicine, and then take the medicine. He loves to give himself his medicine. He feels like he's in charge. I don't know if that'll help your daughter, but it seems like the more control they have, sometimes the easier it is to get toddlers to do things.
I mix my sons in his drink he never knows the difference
Once my kids were on enough medicine that they started fighting it and the only way we got it down was to top off the medicine cup with Cranberry Juice or some other strongish, but fruity-tasting, juice. I also had to be calm and gentle about it and let my son give it to himself. I think he felt better having "control" than being forced. It was rough and we did miss a few doses, though. :(
Both of my kids HATE medicine. At that age, I used to be able to mix it with purple grape juice and my son might take it. My daughter was horrible. Recently at age 7 she was still refusing and I flat out told her, ER (she had a 105 fever) or medicine, which did she prefer. She chose the medicine at that point, but you can't reason with a 2 1/2 yr old. there was an elephant medicine giver that was promoted on the The Shark television show recently that I really want to try. It is supposed to be in CVS stores, but I couldn't find it in mine. I'm going to try the Yo Gabba Gabba spray that the previous poster mentioned. Let me know if anything else works. It seems you either get a kid that loves medicine or hates it, and both mine are on the hate it list.
It sound like it tastes terrible.
My 20 mo old likes to do everything himself, for us it worked to have HIM put the syringe in his mouth and I'd quick plunge it in. First he liked to give it to every one in the family and we'd pretend drink it ("YUM! Can I have more?") Probably won't work for you since she has a had a bad experience with it already. Best of luck.
My son, had to take Amoxicillin as well once. And he is a very picky eater type. HATES medicines of any kind.
But what worked was: to eat a few Cheetos right after taking the syrup....and before as well if that helps. The Cheetos, cuts the taste of the medicine, right away. My son then had no problem taking his Amoxicillin.
The Cheetos, was the suggestion of our Pediatrician. He said for many kids, this works.
For my son, giving him something sweet with the medicine, did not work. His syrup was flavored too. He hated it. But with the Cheetos, he then took his medicine like a champ. And he had to take it twice a day for 10 days. He did so, without any problems.
The Amoxicillan, can be added to some drinks. But I believe, not in milk? Just read the instructions for it and the info sheet to make sure.
You don't have to give her Advil for the fever.
Advil will help with discomfort, but not 'cure' the fever.
A fever will return, if the child is still sick and the illness is still there.
A fever also, helps to rid the body of the virus/infection.
With my kids, I don't give Tylenol or Motrin for fevers, unless it gets real high. I let the fever, burn itself out.
My son, just had a fever from yesterday. I just took his temp frequently and through the night, to gauge it. But did not give him anything for it. And this morning, his fever was gone. And he was back to his normal self. All better.
try mixing it with applesauce or just mix it right in her sippy cup with juice or milk
