Second question of the evening...lots of mommy stuff on my mind, as always!
My two year old has his first ear infection :( He's had a couple of illnesses requiring motrin/tylenol and he's always been easy-going about those meds. But not this time. He is fighting the antibiotic like crazy, and I guess by association he's starting to resist the motrin too. I don't think my older son did this at this age...I'm not sure what to do!
I tried squirting it into his cheek but he spits it out. Once he even half-choked on it since he was crying while I squirted it. I know he doesn't feel good so I feel awful forcing him. And obviously you can't reason with a 2 year old on how it'll make him feel better...
I tasted a dab of it and it tastes sweet; I wouldn't choose it as a beverage, but its not disgusting or anything.
Any brilliant ideas?
Just a quick clarification - I absolutely 100% agree that this is not his choice. I wasn't trying to imply that I'm considering not medicating him. I'm willing to torture him if needed :) Just wanted to hear some techniques for said torture that keep the meds in him. I wanted to cry myself after I'd held him down, managed to get it into his mouth, and then saw it dribbling back out. Keep the suggestions coming! I'm getting my game face on to do this morning's dose!
My kids have always taken every medicine they needed very well, minus eye drops - that was always a two person job when they were little. I get that.
Medicine is not an option for a kid. It's not negotiable and they don't get a choice in whether or not they have it.
If he doesn't want it - you need to do one of two things, bride him or force him. Doesn't much matter which one.
Okay - I'm going to tell you to do what my ped told me to do. And my kids lived to tell the tale, and so will yours.
Use one of those children teaspoons that is long to hold the medicine. Stand it up in a short squat glass. Put it past his head so that he can't knock it over. Have a sippy cup of juice or milk on hand as a chaser.
Lay a towel on the floor and lay his head and shoulders on the towel. STRADDLE him with your knees against both sides of his cheeks and your legs holding onto his arms. Make your bottom close to his body so that he cannot get up. Grab that long teaspoon thing-a-ma-jig out of the glass with your right hand, and pinch his cheeks with your left hand to open his mouth. It's fine if he cries - that also opens his mouth. Pour the medicine down in and physically close his lips so that it won't come out. You can stroke his throat with your right hand and that will make him swallow. He will hate, hate, hate this and cry like a banshee, but the meds will be in his system because of this.
After you have to do this several times, he WILL become compliant and drink the medicine because he knows what the alternative will be.
You might think that this is cruel. However, what IS cruel is to allow your son to dictate his medical care and you end up with a son who is deaf in one ear because you didn't make him take his medicine. OR him ending up in the ER getting IV antibiotics because you couldn't get medicine in him at home. I promise you that what he will go through in the hospital is a lot worse.
Children should NEVER get to call the shots where medicine is concerned. You have to make them toe the line and you have to be the parent, and not a friend. My kids learned quickly that they didn't have a choice. Teach your son this. It will serve you both well.
Kids don't get to decide whether they take their medicine.
It's not negotiable.
When our son was about 1 yr old he came down with pneumonia.
Poor baby was so sick and his wheezing breathing scared me to death.
I had to pin him down (I sat with his head between my thighs and my legs slightly bent over his arms and legs), pry open his mouth, keep a finger between his jaws (this got harder the more teeth he had) and squirt the medicine into his cheek a little at a time so he swallowed most of it (I put him on a towel on the floor).
If he managed to spit it out I had to re-load and start over again.
Nebulizer / albuterol treatments were not easy either.
But I followed Dr's instructions religiously and he said my hard work kept him from landing in the hospital in an oxygen tent.
We always snuggled and made up after each time he had his medicine but not taking it was never an option.
I always had a drink ready for him to help wash the taste out of his mouth.
It was hard but I really feel I did what I had to in order to save his life.
Okay your son is only 2.
But when my son was about 5, he had to take oral antibiotics.
The Pediatrician suggested, to give him a Cheetos, right after.
Because he said it kills the taste of the medicine.
And so I tried it.
And it worked.
My son, is very, picky about what goes in his mouth.
But this Cheetos thing, worked.
And so, whenever he has to take oral liquid medicine, that is what we do.
And it works.
For him.
And per our Pediatrician, it has worked for many of his patients.
Maybe before sitting on him and force feeding you could try to trick him. Use an actual teaspoon rather than a medicine dropper (I'm assuming you are using a dropper since you said you squirted it into his mouth), spoon it in in between bites of a yummy treat. My son is 2 as well, and likes to hold the medicine spoon himself (it's one of those with a hollow handle that you can measure the med in), he takes it happily since HE gets to be the big boy and hold the spoon all by himself. Sometimes it's a matter of how it's presented rather than what it is. And if that doesn't work, go with Doris's suggestion. Sometimes you just have to sit on them. Good luck!
Make sure you always ask the doc for the meds that are not the white one. That one tastes like horrible Milk of Magnesia or a chalk liquid. It is nasty.
The pink one at least can have flavors.
Squirt in the back of his throat. It will go down. Kind of like what you do with dogs n cats-sorry for comparison.
When my daughter went through that phase I tried the couple m&m's after you take the meds trick. Or even a small cup of juice right after. It seemed to work with her.
If that doesn't work, I've done something similar to this:
When your child is a toddler and she refuses to take medicine, it is a bit harder to force it on her. However, it can be done in much the same way as when she was an infant. First you have to catch her. Get her on the floor, positioned on her back with her arms to her sides so you can straddle her body. Hold her arms to her sides with your legs, then grab her cheeks and squeeze to open her mouth. Place the dropper in the corner of her mouth and blow in her face, again forcing the swallowing reaction. This may sound cruel but it is better than having her be sick for weeks on end.
My son LOVES to give himself medicine. I let him hold the plunger and push it so it goes in his mouth. That little bit of control made a huge difference. Have something that tastes good RIGHT THERE so they can make the taste go away ASAP. And don't lie about the taste. My guy is 6 and will take yucky medicine voluntarily - he gives it to himself and has been doing it since he was about 2.5.
Tell him he has to take it - but ask him if he would like YOU to give it, or if he would like to do it all himself. Tell him why, that it'll help him, that you know it's yucky, that you have something to take the taste away.
We have been pretty lucky but my 4 year old would not take his last round of antibiotics. We called the doc and got a pill version.. put the pill on yogurt or applesauce what ever we have handy and then down the hatch..
Get a chaser of something he likes.. or take two spoon fulls of yogurt or applesauce mix it and give it that way?
Just a few ideas.. it is hard when they are sick and don;t like the meds.
We were struggling too, then we relinquished control.
We talked about it with him. We told him the medicine would help him feel better. He had buy in. It worked.
We let him push the plunger. It helped.
We told him he couldn't go to mommy & me if he was sick. True. It helped.
He chooses to take medicine now. It is a happier place to be. He asks for it all the time and he looks forward to it. Benedryl and neosporin, motrin and tylenol, antibiotics etc, no quarrel from the DS.
Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.
This maybe mean,but it works for me
My 3 yr old hates medicine.I am so grate full she never gets sick because she always forgets the trick.I will say "ok ------ do you want some candy/soda?"She will taste it then i quickly give her a little snack to make the taste go away.
"When you finish your medicine then you get to...a,b,c." It's more like a perk of doing what you have to, instead of bribery:)
I had this battle, nothing worked. Holding her down, putting it in milk/ juice. I was beyond frustrated, after 2 days I dug my heels in & when she asked for a drink I said yes after you drink your medicine. Of course she said no, I said no drink. This was repeated a few times & she finally gave in because she was thirsty. I felt horrible doing it but I never had an issue again with medicine. Now she'll actually ask for medicine if she doesn't feel good.
This will not be a popular answer, but it is what it is! We had a run of about 5 or 6 years where my kids refused to take medicine of any kind. And yes mamas, I tried everything short of torture. I finally gave up. Luckily they're pretty healthy, but the few times I took them to the doctor with ear pain or whatever I would actually ask the doctor, "Is this something that will go away on it's own eventually? Or will my kid die if I don't give the meds?" The answer was always "It'll go away eventually." So I stopped giving them anything - for years! One time I did go to the pediatrician and she said that my daughter really did need the antibiotic. So, in order to get her to take it I would mix it into a cup with soda (usually coke) and she'd drink it with a straw. I don't allow them to have soda normally, so I guess she was just thrilled that she could drink it, medicine or not. Anyway, what I took away from this is that doctors prescribe antibiotics way more than is actually necessary. It's worth asking, "Does my kid really need this?" If so, put it in some soda :)
Oh, and I don't understand how anyone could think you think medicine is a choice for a child. Of course you are the parent and you get the final say. However, I was never able to physically make my strong willed children SWALLOW. I mean, never. So that's just dumb that people would think you're making it a choice.
