Help on Getting My Child to Take His Medicine

My daughter was the same way until we started giving her candy afterward. By the end of the antibiotics, she was asking for her medicine and a candy. I told her she had to earn her candy by taking the medicine, now she earns a candy for going on the potty...

Stamps on her hand, and stickers also seem to have the same effect with her.

Just went through this with my 2.5 y.o. and she was just in so much pain and misery that she really couldn't cooperate. We focused on getting the pain med in first, gave it some time to work, and then came back to the amoxy. BTW that is a ton of amoxycillin--she's 25 lbs. and is only doing 7ml 2x a day. Keep it cold (as you should anyway) and it will be more soothing and have a duller taste.

My son, who is now 28, used to have ear infections all the time. The doctor tried the pink stuff and the white stuff, nothing worked and I didn't like my son being a Guinea pig. I had just joined this organization called
www.sukyomahikari.org, where by removing toxins the body heals itself. So I tried it on my son, and he never had another ear infection. 22 years later and I have seen so many miracles, including healing a torn rotator cuff. My doctor couldn't believe it after seeing the MRI that I could even move my arm let alone swing it with no pain. I don't know where you live but hopefully there is a center near you, the sites are listed on the web-site. Check it out.
D.

I use homeopathic medicine for my children - especilly for ear infections, I use Chamomilla, Pulsatilla, and Hepa Sulph. That combination of little white sugar pills - the kids never complained about taking them - I had them hold them in their mouths for as long as possible. Homeopathic medicine is AWESOME!

You may have better luck with this line of medicine. It's a lot cheaper than pharmaceutical medicine and it really worked for me. My 2 kids - since I've been using naturopaths have NEVER been on antibiotics - 1 is 10 yrs and the other is almost 8.

My son went through the same thing. I got his doctor to prescribe antibiotics in the pill form and it worked for him. I guess liquid is usually the easiest, but not for some kids. I hope it works.

Oh my goodness. Good Luck! If you feel like you have to give him the medicine, my advice is to use a syringe. Fill it up with the medicine and stick it in the side of his mouth. Put it between his teeth in the side and back towards the back of the throat. He can scream and try to push it out with his tongue but it doesn't work. When he stops screaming, he will have to swallow the medicine in order to breathe in air. A little bit at a time and pretty soon it is all down. He will be mad at you the whole time and that is hard to take.

I had to do this with my little girl. My husband had a hard time with doing it at first, but he got used to it as we both felt it was best she take the antibiotics. She was on meds for months to make sure she did not get a kidney infection until we could get her into surgery and the problem taken care of. She hated it, but we had to do it as it would have been much worse for her to get a kidney infection and have her in the hospital with IVs.

When my dd got an ear infection I skipped the antibiotics all together. Try squirting or dropping a few drops of breastmilk in your lo's ears. My dd's infection cleared up completely by day 3. Make getting the bm in his ear a game.

Have you tried putting the dropper along the inside of his cheek, all the way back of his mouth? When you do this they have no choice but to swallow. Also you can hide the medicine in yogurt or applesauce or pudding.

E.- Get a medicine dropper, lay him down, put the dropper to the back of his mouth and squirt! It will be a refelx for him to swallow. If he spits it out, do it again. Try it! That's how I got my boys to take medicine, and I had my young son taking Phinobarbotal (anti-seisure medication) for 3 months (from the time he was 3 months to 6 months).
Good Luck, I know how miserable ear infections are.
L.

Tammy makes a lot of really good points, in my opinion. Though I gotta make a disclaimer here, since I'm a doctor, so I have to be clear that I am not offering medical advice, since I don't anything about your child's particular case.

Anyway, one way to see if you can sidestep the oral medicine approach is to take your son to a naturopathic physician. Tammy's right that many, even most, ear infections don't really require antibiotics (though again, I couldn't say one way or the other about your son's particular infection, so don't misconstrue this as advice). Many ear infections will clear up with herbally medicated ear drops; even ear pain can be treated this way. The caution I always give with over-the-counter drops is that you need to know that the eardrum is not perforated before applying them. Visit a naturopathic doctor to find out about your options. It's true what some of the other moms have said, that breast-milk squirted in is also very effective (for conjunctivitis as well!) because there's tremendous immune activity in it.

There should be a lot of good choices for naturopaths in Oregon, which has many naturopathic doctors. One of my very favorites practices somewhere in the Portland area. Her name is Dr. D. Frances - you could google her to find out where. She's phenomenal. If you go, tell her I sent you!

Good luck!
D.

Hi E.

I wouldn't force the issue. Most ear infections clear up by themselves without antibiotics, and giving them antibiotics actually makes things worse because one, the infection is most likely viral, and two, the antibiotics wipe out all the good bacteria in his system that is fighting disease. Giving them antibiotics for a virus also opens the door for antibiotic resistant bacteria, I'm sure you have heard of MSRV. That is the cause of it. Let his body do the work for him. There are excellent homeopathic remedies for ear infections. Garlic oil has wonderful antiviral and antibiotic properties. There is a ear tincture available at health food stores called mullien flower and garlic oil tincture. It comes with a dropper and you warm the bottle and put a couple drops in his ear canal a few times a day. Also if you are breast feeding, breast milk also has wonderful antibiotic properties. Squirt some in his ear canal and do anything you can to get him to nurse on the side of the infection, it will heal it from the inside as well.

The same goes for tylenol and motrin. He is better off without them. A fever is fighting the infection and giving him the drugs cripples his bodies defenses, not to mention that it is hard on his liver and kidneys. The warm oil in the ear is very soothing, and also warm washcloth compresses will help as well. Keep trying to get him to nurse as often as he will because being hydrated will help his congestion. Try a humidifier too, anything to loosen up his sinuses. Avoiding dairy and sugar will also be helpful to his congestion. I hope he feels better soon.

Acetominophen is available in pediatric suppositories - usually behind the pharmacy counter. I've had to use those with my son, who will not take medicine orally.

I asked this same question a few weeks ago. My son would take his medicine (same kind)...and is very good about taking tylenol and anything else. The medication is bad tasting (have you tried it?) We mixed it w/ lactose free ice-cream, which only worked a few times. The only thing worked, and worked great, was raspberry go-gurt. You can use any yogurt, but raspberry worked GREAT! Good luck, I know it is hard to see you lil guy sick, and then upset cause your forcing meds down him....but he sure does need them!
take care
K.

Maybe he isn't nursing because his sinuses are also infected and plugged. If he doesn't want to eat, it could be that his throat is sore. Try to find something yummy to drink and put his meds in it. Give it to him with a straw and make him think it's special because he is sick. It is so important to get the ears cleared up. My son went through 2 years of ear infections until they finally put tubes in to relieve the pressure. He just doesn't feel good right now.

Hello E..I have been in your position before. Medicine is your worst nightmare I know. This may sound bad to you but this is what I have done with my two little ones. I would hold them down put the medicine in and at the same time blow in their face so they will suck in and swallow. It's worked many times. But now I have no issues with them taking their medicine.Good luck. I don't know if that helps but good luck.

E....
I would also try the putting it in ice cream or pudding or jello....but if that doesnt work, you could always go the plug the nose,squeeze in the medicine then blow in his face and let go of his nose....I know it sounds cruel but he has to take the medicine and if you and your hubby work as a team it should only take 2 seconds max, then its over!

K.

Try letting him play with the medicine dropper before and after getting the meds. That always made my daughter (now 15 months) think it was more of a toy than medicine.

Have you tried squirting the meds in the back of his cheek so it's harder to spit out?

Does he eat rice cereal or oatmeal? Try mixing it in that. I do that with vitamins and other meds.

When my daughter was really little, we did have to hold her down to give her reflux meds, and though she didn't like it, it must be done. Good luck.

I don't have any good advice because my kids love medicine. I do know though that if you have to force it in, put your finger between his gums until he swallows. This way, he can't spit it out. The more open you keep his mouth, the less likely he'll be to get it back out. Also, if you blow in his face after you squirt it in, his reflex will be to swallow.
Ideally, obviously finding a happy solution would be better.

hi! i know it's difficult and frustrating, i have a very head strong 2 year old. what works for his sometimes is me letting him hold the cup to drink the medicine, then he's in control of what he's drinking. often i just have to walk away and try again later if he won't let me give it to him. good luck, don't give up!

If all else fails, you can plug his nose while quickly squirting the medicine at the back to one side of his mouth. He will have to quickly swallow and it's over SO fast. You'll need your husband's help for this, and it's best if you have him in his high chair, one of you force his mouth open and plug the nose, the other man the dropper. Work quickly and in coordination and he won't even get a chance to cry, or anything. This worked with my oldest son wen he was about that age and had an ear infection. I have almost always had to request a second bottle of antibiotic solution because so much is wasted as we figure out how to get them to swallow it.

My littlest one (now 8 mos - had his ear infect. about 2 mos ago) responded best to a small squirt at a time in the side of his cheek, while I would blow small puffs of air in his face to get him to swallow. It took longer and more of it dribbled out, but he's not as stubborn as my oldest who would not have anything to do with it when he was a baby. Now my 2 and 4 yr old LOVE medicine (also dangerous) and suck it down when given the chance.

My baby also refused to eat when his ear infection was hurting him - it really hurts them to suck and swallow- the sooner you can get that medicine in him and doing it's job, the faster your little guy will be back to eating normally. As long as he's still having wet diapers you don't need to worry about a little less eating for a day or two. Just pump if you need to, to keep up your milk.

I always use a dropper & make it a fun game of flying airplane...but antibiotics don't help ear infections. He probably has an allergy, I'd take him to a naturopath.

Wow! what a problem to have! Have you tried putting the medicine in a juice in a bottle or sippy cup? or what about putting a small amount in pudding or applesause and make a game of it. pretend like you're eating it and it's really yummy. get excited and try to make him happy and laugh and it may go down a little better in smaller amounts hidden in something else. you may have to give him juice to get fluids in him then when he's well add water little by little to the juice to wean him off straight juice. If you're wasting too much medicine with all your efforts let the doc know and he may have other ideas or at least give another perscription for the amount that went wasted. best wishes to you! L. L

Call Babies R us- I think they carry a special nipple for medicine they can suck on. Or you could just put the correct dose in 1 ounce of water so you know if he drank it.
What about putting it in some sweet juice instead of the water?
If you get him to take the Abx make sure and give him yogurt or pro-biotic during the course.
L