Spitting Antibiotics!!

Well, you don't say his age but what I do with my two year old (And the one and three year olds that I nanny) is to just pry the mouth open, squirt it in, and hold my hand over their mouth until I am absolutely positive that they have swallowed the liquid. They hate me for it but at least they are getting their medicine.

Call the pharmacy and ask if they have a flavor additive they can put in it. I don't know if they do for Augmentin, or just for Amox, but my son got some Amox today and we had the phramacy add bubble gum flavor so he'd take it. It was an additional $2.

I would try usi g the syringe and squirt it little by little so there's not enough to "spit"!
It will take longer, but more might stay in.
You don't say his age but if reason won't work, perseverance will.
You could mix it with something, but IME, that will be more potentially wasted and more volume to make sure gets in.

Tackling is your only option, Mom! I know, it's awful. Lay a towel down on the carpeted floor, put the medicine in one of those long teaspoon thingies that you "pour" out of, and set it in a coffee cup. Put a small glass of what he likes to drink (not milk) in another cup. Have them OUT of arm slapping range, but close to you. Lay him down quick, place your legs on either side of his trunk and arms and "pinch" open his mouth with your left hand with fingers between his upper and lower jaws on both sides. Pick up the teaspoon thingie out of the cup and pour it down his throat and like lightening, close his mouth. It's not pretty, but it's necessary. You can stroke his throat to make him swallow. He'll cry to high heaven, but the antibiotics will be in him and THAT'S what matters. Chase it with his favorite drink you have waiting there.

It's important to establish your ABSOLUTE authority here. The alternative is that he won't get enough in him, the bug will become resistant because of improper dosing and you will end up getting ear tubes. For other sicknesses, you could end up having to take him to the ER and have IV antibiotics of much stronger types.

I reminded myself of that when I had to do this to MY children. And if you are wondering who told me to do it, it was my PED'S office.

Btw - we had to do this with Biaxin. It's the worst tasting med on the planet, I think!

Sending you strength~
Dawn

Yeah, if I recall correctly, augmentin is very chalky. Blech!
Use the syringe, squirt towards the very back (as far past the taste buds as you can) in smaller quantities, and make sure he has a cup of something yummy in his hand, ready to go as a chaser.

Then, be matter of fact that it has to be taken, but lots of hugs and well done's after he takes it. And extra stories at bedtime (or anytime he has to take it) or whatever else he would enjoy. Make it a reward. But at the same time give him some control (the chaser in a cup).
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If you are using a cup, it is hitting every taste bud he has! The syringe can limit that. Squirt to the side/rear. Half a syringe, chase with a liquid (juice or whatever he wants). Then the other half of the syringe (chase with _). Foods don't work the same as chasing with liquid. It is too slow! You want something that will wash away or coat the taste immediately.
Good luck.

Nope, we tell the doc to not even try it. It is the most disgusting horrible liquid that a child could try to put in their mouth. It's terrible. Taste it yourself.

Even with the flavoring the pharmacist can put in it doesn't change the outcome. It is still nasty.

The only way your are going to get that down their throat is to wrap them up like a burrito while they are laying down on something tall like a chest of drawers. Waist high to you. Then wrap your arm around their head like a head band. Hubby will need to hold the waist down still for you. Use your right hand to hold the med in a dropper style device and dribble it into the back of their throat. Stroke their throat and help them swallow. Other than that putting a drop or two into the cheek area might get some down them too.

In the future don't even buy this med. It's simply not worth it.

try mixing it with chocolate pudding and whip cream. Don't tell him it is medicine, pretend that you have a treat.

I agree with using a syringe to get the medication as far back in the throat as possible so that the only thing that can happen is for the medicine to go down. Follow with some 7-Up or fruit juice.

My daughter was the absolute WORST at taking any type of liquid medicine. It didn't matter if it tasted like bubble gum or grape....forget it. She flat refused to take even cough syrup.

Believe it or not, at 2, she was taking pills like a champ. Seriously.
No fussing, fighting, crying, gagging. She would take a drink of juice, then the pill, and wash it down with more juice. It completely ended the torment of trying to get her to take her medicine.

It's what worked for her so maybe it's worth a try for your little one as well. He won't have to taste the medicine at all and at least you'll be sure he's getting a full dose.

My daughter's pediatrician suggested it after I discussed her screaming freakouts over the liquid. He told my daughter he had a "magic" new way and she trusted him. It worked!

My son, God bless his little heart, he never fussed about medicine or getting his immunizations, never whimpered when he had to get stitches in his knee, never cried when he had to have two days of I.V. antibiotics for a weird blood infection.

They probably would have had to induce my daughter into a coma to manage any of that.

All kids are different. Your little guy might do better with pills if he so hates the liquid. It's worth a discussion between you and the pediatrician.

Best wishes.

Best wishes.

This sounds horrible, but I "swaddle" my 15 month old (i realize yours is older), so her arms aren't flailing all around. She just had RSV and refused the saline and nose sucker and wouldn't let me come near her with the inhaler. Good thing she doesn't hold a grudge :-)

Ugh - I feel for you! We've been through this and for a couple of day, mixing it in a spoonful of strongly flavored icecream worked for us, but he caught on and we ended up hold him down and squirting it in. It was awful, but we talked him through it, telling him what we were going to do and all about the fun activity we'd do after. We'd dry his tears and read stories or whatever to reset.

I was told by ped tp pinch her nose and squirt it in and she will have to swallow it to breathe. Hard but do what it takes...

We always did one bite of chocolate pudding and then the medicine and keep going until its gone.

Hold him down, squirt into the back of his mouth. Works like a charm although he won't be happy. This is non-negotiable!!!

My ped recommends choc syrup immediately before to coat mouth/tongue (i.e. to mask taste) then med then another small amount of choc syrup to reward. Works like a charm for my 5 yr old.

Well, the fact is that you need for him to take it whether he wants it or not. You have to get serious. There's a method you can use that doesn't hurt or harm anyone and it's not traumatic in the least.

You're going to sit on him.

No, no... hear me out.

Find a comfortable place on your floor where his head won't hurt. Put a blanket down if you have hard floors. Sit on the floor and have him lay down facing upwards with his head in your crotch. Put his arms under your legs. Move your legs together and rest your legs down. He won't be able to move, but he'll be comfortable. And safe.

Next wedge your finger into the side of his mouth. Keep your finger away from his teeth, but the side of his cheek, and get to his back gums to wedge open his mouth. Drip the medicine into the side and back of his mouth. He will not choke. He will be forced to swallow. Remember, his head will be held still by your legs. His arms will be pinned and his body held still by your legs. He might try kicking, but you can even put your legs over his legs to avoid this.

Do this every time if you have to. I had to do it for my two older daughters until it got to where they saw the liquid meds come out and they would lay down on the floor with their mouths open. ;-)

My five year old is taking the same antibiotic right now for ear infection and she HATES it. When she was your son's age, she wouldn't take medicines at all. She flat out refused. So when she got an infection, she had to have an antibiotic shot. We told her, if you don't take the medicine, you will have to get a shot. She still said no, and took her shot like a champ. Whatever... crazy kid.

Short of hog-tying him, and forcing him to swallow, I can't think of anything. Obviously I lost that battle... lol

Did the pharmacy flavor it? My daughter hates antibiotics too. We hide it in her beverage. Usually juice, if it isn't horrible tasting. I think Augmenten is one that has a very stron flavor, so we hide it in her milk.

I checked with her doctor to see if this method is ok and the response was "Whatever it takes to get it in her".

Good luck!

Tell him if he doesn't drink it then he will have to get a needle instead.

I do the syringe and shoot the medicine in towards the back of the tongue to try to avoid the taste and allow some ginger ale immediately afterwards. Now that she's older, she likes to hold the syringe stopper to control how fast it goes. If giving in a medicine cup instead of syringe, I put the med in and fill it the rest of the way with ginger ale. Seems to help.

My daughter is usually pretty good about her meds. On the occasions when she is difficult about it, I remind her that if she won't take it that I will have to ask her doctor to give her a shot instead. Your son is probably too young for that to work, yet.