11 Month Old Struggling Taking Liquid Penicillan-techniques Needed

We have to massage my daughters throat and hold her down while giving any medicine to make her swallow it. It goes pretty quick and then we just "hug it out":)

My daughter also hates meds, other than Mortin. I mix it in with yogurt and as long as you have her finish it it works great! Good luck!!!

Call your pharmacy and see if they can add flavoring to it. My son was put on Omeprezole this summer and HATED it- within 3 days of starting it, he would clamp his mouth shut and turn his head and fuss when you walked toward him with the syringe. I was surprised because he was only 7 months at the time! I do know that some pharmacies make you pay for the flavoring though. I had gotten mine filled and flavored at Target and it didn't cost anything, then I went to Walgreens this time (drive thru) and they charge for it. It was well worth paying this one time for the flavoring vs going unflavored.

Hope this helps!

M.

It's a little old fashioned, but they actually gave my son a shot of it. If nothing else works, could you call the clinic and find out if that is an option? Not fun...but I know how impossible it can be to get some meds in them. Good luck.

We used to give them a nipple to a bottle to suck on while lying down. Then you just pour the medication in the open nipple and they suck it down. I think that the nipple covers all thier taste buds so it isn't as offensive to them. Good luck!

They have those things called reliadose that you could try. I'm not sure exactly how it works but I know you can mix the med with juice or milk to make it easier for your baby to take it. Also, try to get it flavored - they can do it at the pharmacy.

Many pharmacies offer to add flavoring to children's medicines--can your own pharmacy do that?

Can you "hide" it in juice or milk, or foods like apple sauce or oatmeal?

I agree with Cherie K. My only addition to that would be to blow in her face in a quick sharp blast right after you squirt the medicine in. The air makes them swallow automaticly. Maybe after you make her take it like that a few times she'll realize she'd better take it willingly. Just make sure she understands that one way or another she IS going to take it, and she has the choice which way she's going to get it: the easy way or the hard way.

(Going back and re-reading that I seem like such a hard a-- mean mom! LoL!)

Bribes, especially candy, work really well with my kids, but sometimes I just have to hold my toddler down and squirt a little bit at a time in the back of his throat.
There was one antibiotic that my little guy had that was so bad he would throw it up, and then he stopped eating and drinking. The dr. had to give him a different prescription.

Try getting the medicine as far back into her mouth as possible and use the syringe. It's easier when they struggle. Give her a drink right after if she does not like the taste.

My son is now 13 months. He has ear tubes now, but before that he was on a new antibiotic for ear infections every other week since he was 3 months old - so I can relate to the problem you are having.

The first thing to try is going back to the drug store and asking them to put some flavoring in the medicine. Tylenol and Motrin are both very sweet and have that berry/cherry flavor. Even if your current medicine is suppodely flavored, the stuff they add is worth it. Hopefully that works!

I unfortunately even with the flavoring had to just end up holding my son down and get it over with. It was horrible, but the medicine needed to get in.

Good luck...

I have 2 suggestions
1. If it is the grape flavor of tylenol and motrin she likes then take the medicine to the pharmacy and ask them to flavor it grape.

2. put it in a dring (little drink but all of the med and see if she will take it that way.

Hopefully something will work and she gets better soon!

my mom use to mix my medicine with my juice. i could never take the medicine. but you couldnt tell with juice. She mostly mixed it with White grape juice. good luck

try hiding it in juice.
my son has a cold, and with the change now in no cold medicines for kids, i got a cough medicine from the health foods store... he HATES it but will drink it in juice.
good luck.
ps your doctor should be able to give a flavored one... i remember having bubblegum, and that was always so yummy!

Tell them at the pharmacy that you'd like it flavored. My son takes Zantac and I have them flavor it grape. It used to be a fight for us, too until we got it flavored now he likes it. I think its only $2.99 more. :) Good luck!

I know this is going to sound a little mean, but if you hold her down have one hand that can squeeze her cheeks (not hard but to kinda give her fish lips)take the syringe and slide it towards the back along the inside of her cheek. With doing it this way they can't spit out the medicine they automatically start swallowing. I know it sounds really bad but it is the best trick when all else fails.

We had to start giving our DS Zantac at 2 yo. It's supper strong minty. So definatly we had some rejection issues. To get him to swallow it I laid him down and held his head. I squirted it in and then held his nose. He had to swallow when i was holding his nose. After a couple of doses he started accepting it and now is just like yours, a little bird. Some others suggested mixing. If you choose that check the script handout or better yet ask a pharmasist. Some scripts can't be mixed and some can only be mixed w/ certain foods.

Try using a Reliadose bottle (a bottle with a medication syringe housed in the middle). I believe you can find them at Walgreens. You put her favorite liquid in the bottle and the medicine in the syringe and then sneak the medicine in by pushing on the syringe while she's drinking. Hope this helps!

HI, we just ended up mixing liquid medicine with a big spoonful of 100% fruit jelly- our girl lapped it up, which was much better than the fights with the syringe, spoon, cup...

Just mix it in some applesauce or other food that she likes or put it in her juice bottle.
J.
Mom to 4, ages 6, 5, 4, and 2 :o)

My daughter is a fighter too!! I gave it to her on a spoon and that worked for a while, but when she changed her mind, then I used the syringe. But I had to squirt to way nack and leave the syringe between her teeth so she couldn't put her lips together to spit it back out and into my face. Good luck!!!!!

Does your daughter use a pacifier? We had an awful time when my daughter needed to take penicillin for an ear infection. She too was fine with Tylenol. Loves it. We finally found the solution with a pacifier that administers the medicine. I don't know if it's their compulsion to suck or whether the pacifier doses the medicine past their taste buds. I did have to hold the paci in her mouth. But it was no muss no fuss after we found it. I found mine at a Walgreens. Check it out here: http://www.walgreens.com/store/product.jsp?CATID=303648&a... Or google medicine pacifiers.

Good luck!

At the pharmacy, have them flavor the medicine. My son is on amoxacillin for an ear infection and he happily is taking his medicine this time b/c it's flavored.

I tried to add it to something that also tasted a little fruity. My son loved orange juice, so I mixed the meds with a little orange juice and told him it was a smoothy. He loved it! I have also added it to applesauce or yogurt. I just made sure not to mix it with too much of anything just in case he didn't finish it. Use a smaller amount so that she takes it all.

I struggled with this with my 4 year old. We don't use liquid medicines anymore (chewables now) but she had to be on antibioitcs over the summer and they don't really make those in chewables. Some of the techniques that were suggested were as follows: Use a spoon full of chocolate or strawberry syrup before and following the dose of medicine. Mix it in with yogurt, applesauce, ice cream, pudding, etc. (as long as she eats it all). What worked in the end for us personally was getting "Flavorit" home flavoring kit. It's similar to what the pharmacy's use to flavor liquid medicine with different flavors... but smaller of course. Our daughter was old enought to pick which flavor she wanted to try, she even got creative and started doing combination flavors. Our kit came with grape, watermelon, orange, and bubblegum. I think it was only like $7-8 and we found ours at the grocery store pharmacy (we use Pick & Save). We checked at Walgreens and they do NOT carry this product (just so you don't have to go through that hassle). But I'm sure other pharmacy's will have this or something similar. If she takes a certain flavor of motrin/tylenol... I'd maybe go with that! Good luck! I certainly know how frustrating it can be!!!

My daughter has CF and is on antibiotics often. We normally give it to her with the little syringe that comes with the medication.

Did the pharmacy add flavoring to the medicine? If not, you should contact them and ask if it would be possible to add it now. They have many different flavors to chose from. It helps mask the taste of the medicine.

We try to distract her and then give it to her quickly using the syringe. Usually she has swallowed it all before she realizes what it is.

Another trick, give her a spoonful of food before the medication. We give her a spoonful of applesauce.

Lastly, I have found that it is easier to get her to swallow all of the medication if she is on her back when I giv it to her.

I totally understand how frustrating and helpless you feel giving this to your child. There were times when Emma would scream and cry while getting her antibiotics and it would make me cry. You just have to remind yourself that you are doing this because it is what is best for her, even though she does not know it is.

Good luck.

Hi,
We just had this issue with our 18 month old daughter. We gave her an M&M with the dose. It worked! We only did it a couple times and then she just started taking it. I usually don't give her candy, but this was an exception that was worth it.
Good Luck!

My daughter was on an antibiotic a few months ago and would not take it and would spit it out whenever you tried to put it in her mouth - she'd also turn her head really fast at the last second so that you ended up squirting it on her cheek! I asked the pharmacist if I could mix it with her food and he said we could as long as she ate every last bit of it, but it shouldn't go in the bottle. So we mixed it with baby cereal and applesauce - and she ate it without complaint! So ask if you can mix it with food and then just make sure she eats it all.

If all else fails on the liquid front (perhaps for next time) they can give you the pills and I think you can chop them up--they might not be as noticeable unless she actually chomps on them. Also, with my four year old, who would make himself gag and throw up when we tried antibiotics (the thickness was a big issue, and we mixed it with EVERYTHING and nothing worked), they can give them a one time shot (at least with the antibiotic we were given) at the clinic in lieu of the daily dosing.

I know Walgreens adds flavors to meds now, maybe that will help