How do I get my child to take medicine?

[blueyesue]

My 5 yr old daughter has a staph infection on her face. Her top lip and right cheek is swollen and painful. She just received her antibiotics, and is terrified of taking the medicine. It is liquid, I had them flavor it, and I have a syringe to aim it towards the back of her mouth. She just screams and starts hyperventilating. Any advice to help it go down smoothly?

[scribblerpnp]

I know it is too late to do anything about it, but could help in the future. When I write for rx for children, I will use the highest possible concentration available to decrease the amount that needs to be taken or use something that only needs to be given BID vs TID or QD vs BID. Augmenten comes in many concentrations including 600mg/5ml, which would have greatly decreased the mL your child needed (from 11.5 ml to 3.75 mL- or something close to that) It is something to consider asking about should she ever need liquid meds again. Of course, sometimes it can cost more.

[AMR21, BSN, RN]

i babysit for a girl who takes several meds a day. Her parents found the flovors were pretty much the problem. They were so overpowering. They just add the liquid to a small ammount of VERY strong koolaid.

[blueyesue]

Originally Posted by scribblerrn

I know it is too late to do anything about it, but could help in the future. When I write for rx for children, I will use the highest possible concentration available to decrease the amount that needs to be taken or use something that only needs to be given BID vs TID or QD vs BID. Augmenten comes in many concentrations including 600mg/5ml, which would have greatly decreased the mL your child needed (from 11.5 ml to 3.75 mL- or something close to that) It is something to consider asking about should she ever need liquid meds again. Of course, sometimes it can cost more.

Thank you much. I will have to remember that next time I get an rx.