Medised v Calpol Night

[nunheadmum]

I don't want to get into the debate on the merits of using these. But if you do use them, does anyone find that their LO's take Medised any easier than Calpol night?

My youngest (not so young!) refuses to take Calpol night - says it's yukky (thanks big sis!!) - will only just take Calpol but seems ok (usually) with Nurofen. She's got a stonker of a cold (not just a sniffle, a real stonker) and I'm sure Medised would help her but the last time we tried to get her to take calpol night, she gagged and sicked up and then wouldn't take ANY medicine. It took lots of coaxing to get her to trust us with Nurofen again.

She's got a temperature so don't want to lose the one reliable thing we've got. But as Medised is (if I remember right) not coloured, I'm wondering if it may go down easier - or does the extra ingredient make Medised as yukky as calpol night?

Just desperate to help her get a decent sleep - better than lots of medicine, I'm sure.

[Bellenden Jo]

They are both yucky! Sorry, that doesn't help much.

[ladywotlunches]

Medised is a lot thinner in consistency than Calpol (haven't seen Calpol night), so might well go down easier. Have you tried putting it into a drink - squash or something, to disguise the taste?

[buggie]

Are you using syringe?? (always easier than spoon as you can direct it towards the back of the tongue/into the cheek in v small amounts) There's one particular medicine we have to give regularly in Paeds ED which tastes really bad, to disguise it I add neat squash (blackcurrent has stronger flavour than orange)- could it be worth trying this - you only need a small amount so don't have to worry as much about them drinking a whole cup worth x

[nunheadmum]

Afraid I've tried mixing it with Ribena and using a syringe but she refuses it all and gets too worked up. Got some Medised today but it's just as bad. At the end of the day, she'll get by without it so I'm not putting her through the stress of forcing it in. Just can't convince her that she'd feel better with it.

Thanks anyway. Good to know there isn't a classic trick I'm missing.

[kristymac1]

My DD is an absolute b*gger for taking medicine (in that she wont. Ever). Last week she was given antibiotics (my ultimate nightmare), however we've managed to get the whole course into her, drama free, by adding it to strawberry smoothie - not much as it disguises the taste reall really well and then we play 'smoothie moustaches' until its all gone - brilliant!

[savage]

My oldest went through a period of not accepting any medicine orally, which proved to be a nighmare. We tried so many different approaches & medicines but in the end gave up. If they don't want to take it they won't. Instead we went down the suppository route, although not very nice, it did give us piece of mind.

You can buy them over the counter, but are really expensive, alternatively the doctors can prescribe them.

It turned out to be just a phase for us as i'm sure it will be for you

[kristymac1]

savage Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> My oldest went through a period of not accepting

> any medicine orally, which proved to be a

> nighmare. We tried so many different approaches &

> medicines but in the end gave up. If they don't

> want to take it they won't. Instead we went down

> the suppository route, although not very nice, it

> did give us piece of mind.

>

> You can buy them over the counter, but are really

> expensive, alternatively the doctors can prescribe

> them.

>

> It turned out to be just a phase for us as i'm

> sure it will be for you

We also have to give paracetamol as a suppository - definitely get the GP to prescribe them though as they are around ?20 for 6 tablets if you buy over the counter. I have met some resistance from GPs to prescribe suppositories, but it really is just a cultural thing - many countries on the continent use suppositories as their main method of giving medication. It's just unfortunate that antibiotics can't be administered this way.....

[The Nappy Lady]

When I had to give my then 4/5 year old some nasty medicine I tried all the mixing with juice etc. to no avail. In the end I just lined up some of her favourite sweets and told her, take this and you can have those, plus a big drink of something nice to take the taste away....it worked perfectly!!

Bribery all the way I say!

[Moi23]

Yes bribery and mixing with very thick juice (apple and mango).

[Pickle]

I have the opposite problem - children that love the taste of medicine and will try all manner of approaches to try and convince me something is sore! A great future in premiership football ahead perhaps?

[The Nappy Lady]

Pickle - C is the same, always telling me 'teeth hurt need medicine Mummy'.....even the stuff Olivia used to hate taking doesn't cause her any issues.

I've now got a liquid multivitamin which I have her every day - that keeps her happy!

[Gussy]

Hehe mine is the same 'menice mummy, menice teeth urt' nearly every day! Out of interest which liquid multivit are you using Molly? I tried a few months back to get some into toddler G but she hated it. Must admit it tasted horrid.

[The Nappy Lady]

Think it is Well Kid?? Got from Kristal Pharmacy in Nunhead.

Neither of mine seem to mind the taste.

[nunheadmum]

Thanks for all the suggestions. In the end we've just avoided it because she was sleeping not too badly and she was starting to get funny about even Nurofen. Now that seems to be the only thing she'll take. I even managed to get clear coloured paracetamol but she wouldn't take it either. I think she's just feeling so grotty that anything that isn't just as she wants it is sending her into hysterics. It's almost a matter of principle now!!

I think we're going to try and get through this bout with just Nurofen and then try other things when she's back to her normal self and a bit more rational. It feels like she's suffering so much already that stressing her out over medicine isn't worth it - and runs the risk of her not taking even Nurofen which would be a disaster.

My eldest is so different - as other have commented on theirs - she loves her medicine and I'm sure her current cough is to some extent put on so she'll get some! (Even though it is just honey and lemon.)

[mich]

My dd used to refuse to take the medicine from the syringe or a spoon until i used to pretend that I couldn't do it by myslef and I needed her to help me as she is such a big clever girl. The fact that she thought that she was helping me really seemed to work and touch wood we have never had a problem giving her medicine since as long as we remember to get her to help us put the spoon in her mouth or to help us to push the syringe. Lots of praise after for helping us out always puts a smile on her face.

Good Luck!