When the doctor wasn’t able to insert a new cannula for Mr A it wasn’t the antibiotic jabs I was worried about; he could take those like a man (kicking and screaming). It was the syrup that worried me. How on earth would the nurses ever get it down him?
Our experience, with the few times we’d tried to get Mr A to take Dentinox, was that he did not like to take oral medicine at all. When he was given Calpol in A&E it only further proved this. He was already a master at spitting the stuff out.
The nurse gave Mr A his first dose or oral antibiotics and somehow managed to get it down him. He was asleep when the next dose was due and the nurse left it for me to give him when he woke up. Yeah, big mistake. Clearly I didn’t have the skill and he just attempted to spit the lot out. I managed to get maybe half of it down him. We continued in that vein until we left the hospital. The amount of syrup he managed to take depended on the skill of the nurse. There were definitely some better than others. He hated the stuff (even I thought it smelt rather disgusting, like dodgy penny sweets) and if he was given it before a feed, he would refuse to feed, as if he was scared that he’d end up drinking more medicine.
Mr A’s release from hospital was accompanied with a bottle of antibiotic syrup. I was not looking forward to trying to get it down him for the next week. Bedtime came and I decided to give him half a feed first so he wouldn’t be too unsettled. I measured the syrup out and hoped for the best. It was white, meaning that all those horrible colourings that go into Calpol weren’t present. Would that make a difference to the flavour? I managed to get the syringe into his mouth and gave him the first little bit. He didn’t swallow. Instead Mr A gave us a huge grin. There’s been no spitting out of this new medicine, but getting him to swallow it isn’t easy. It appears he rather likes the taste of it and doesn’t want it to go. Still, better that than getting sprayed in pink goo every 12 hours.
If only the likes of Calpol could learn from the makers of this medicine, I’m sure the lives of parents everywhere would be made easier. In the meantime, we’ll all have to struggle along. How do you get your little ones to take medicine?
My little man hates all meds and I have to resort to all manner of things to get the stuff in him. I have done everything from bribery and corruption to giving it to him in his sleep.
Our new one is ‘pretend’ to add a magic powder that takes away the nasty taste and he takes it no problem and even says “Mmmm Yum!” afterwards …. always amazes me that we still get away with this one lol.
Glowstars Reply:
April 17th, 2010 at 22:08
Sounds like the magic toothpaste we have to use to get the boy to brush his teeth.
ahh, we use suppositories. Seriously. they are really normal here and so much easier to administer. We ran out today and my little girl has a temperature so am trying to get her to drink a kiddie panadol dissolved in juice. It’s been 3 hours and she’s drunk half. Sigh.
.-= Heather said And The Winner Is… =-.
Glowstars Reply:
April 17th, 2010 at 22:09
Definitely easier! I bet we don’t have them here as course cos the drug companies can’t make as much money off of them, or something like that.