tricks to get ds to take meds

octopus

Mon, Aug 31 2009, 9:44 pm

ds is running a fever. I need him to take motrin and he is throwing a hissy fit: he doesn't want to take it! I tried putting it in his bottle but he refuses. I tried bribes. that was a no-go. What can I do?

mummiedearest

Mon, Aug 31 2009, 9:50 pm

octopus wrote:

my son refuses every time. he's big enough for suppositories now. if you can pick some up, great. if not, corner your son, squeeze his cheeks, stick medicine in his mouth (into the back of the cheek so he can't spit it out) and wait for another hissy fit.

would you be willing to try a cold bath first?

do you have any strawberry syrup in the house? if you have cherry tylenol, you can give him a spoon of syrup first and try to fool him into thinking the tylenol is the same. though I suspect your son is too clever for that trick...

octopus

Mon, Aug 31 2009, 9:53 pm

mummiedearest wrote:

octopus wrote:

they make motrin/tylenol suppositories?

tovasmom

Mon, Aug 31 2009, 10:05 pm

Yes, the brand name here in the US is Fever all, I think. One of my ds's was a vomiter so it was impossible to get tylenol into him any other way. And it works very fast. If they don't have that brand, ask for acetominophen suppositories. The strength goes by weight. It might be behind the pharmacist's counter. Refuah Sheleima!

bluesclues

Mon, Aug 31 2009, 10:09 pm

if yor in brooklyn dear drugs on avenue p makes motrin suppositories in different strenths
they work so quickly and keep the fever down

Twizzlers

Mon, Aug 31 2009, 10:10 pm

I guess you've tried bribes? 2-3 potato chips does wonders in this house; and I'm really anti junk food. but when you gotta use it, you gotta use it!

gold21

Mon, Aug 31 2009, 10:20 pm

In a situation like this, I would ask DH to hold the child, and I would gently squeeze his cheeks in to open the mouth, and use a medicine dropper, not those annoying spill-happy medicine cups. I would use infant tylenol, not childrens, since the infant version is more concentrated and requires a lesser amount. I would force the medicine in. BH I only had to do this once. Believe it or not, both my boys like medicine.

manhattanmom

Mon, Aug 31 2009, 10:28 pm

My son (at 6 months) was on antibiotics and it was TERRIBLE! It became a 3 person job--one to hole his arms, another to hold his legs and another person to squeeze his cheeks and get the medicine in. I can't wait until he's old enough for suppositories!

My toddler LOVES medicine--ever since he was born. But for a month now he's had to take a nasal spray which is in a different category, I guess. One spray in the nose gets 2 chocolate chips every morning!!

marina

Mon, Aug 31 2009, 10:35 pm

As an aside, if you have a compounding pharmacy near you, they can usually make the medicine into a form that the child will tolerate. Antibiotics can be made into chewable candies, other meds can be made into lollypops, etc.

leomom

Mon, Aug 31 2009, 11:26 pm

Have you tried other methods to bring down his temperature? If you can avoid fighting about medicine and getting that pattern engraved into his behavior (mommy brings out the medicine and I throw a fit), then the next time you really need medicine and it's totally non-negotiable, he will be that much older and you can start fresh.

On the other hand, I realize you may have a reason that medication is absolutely necessary for his fever right now. (Is it a very high fever?)

greenfire

Tue, Sep 01 2009, 10:00 am

first off you get ready a yummy drink to chase it down ... then you till his head back and to the side of his mouth quickly with a dropper deposit medicine (or 1/2 at a time) ... then he can drink his chaser ...

small bean

Tue, Sep 01 2009, 12:37 pm

my daughter is 2 and what I do is, I explain to her why she needs to take it - what it's go do for her. because she understands she takes it, not because she likes it. I also let her choose if she wants chewable or liquid. - she tolerates the chewable better. usually after I explain it to her she tells me she's not ready yet, and she needs a few min. which I give her and she usually takes it within 20min of the explanation.