My 4 year old daughter was in the emergency room today and was diagnosed with a UTI. My problem now is she will not take the medicine. I was having a hard time with her to take tylenol for her fever. She would barely take the liquid and sometimes take the chewable tablets. I wasn't greatly worried about her not taking the tylenol all the time for the fever since it wasn't to high and if I give her a tempid bath it would help bring it down. I just don't know how to get her to take the prescription medication for the UTI. If she doesn't take it the UTI could spread to a kidney infection and then hospitalization with and IV and needles are even worse with her. I know the medication doesn't taste bad since I tasted a little on my finger and is actually pretty good so I know that isn't the reason she won't take it. I just don't know what to do. Any advice would be greatly appriciated. Thanks so much in advance.
We had to go back to the emergency room and they gave her fluids through the IV since she was severly dehidrated. We asked to have her medication switched to chewables and that worked better since she would take those. Then we found out her infection was resistant to the chewables and we had to put her on another liquid. Her medicine was white this time and she only wanted "pink" medicine so we mixed it with some red food coloring to change the color and she took it. It was pink so it tasted good to her. Thank you all for your advice.
Maybe you should ask the doctor i fyou can mix it with something. I did that the last time my daughter was on an antibiotic.
Good Luck!
Jenn Smith
www.stayinhomeandlovinit.com/jennsmith34
J., I have 2 dughters, 11 and 9. When my oldest was small, she was terrible about taking meds too. She was a little better with chewables than liquids but some meds are not available in chewables. When it comes to prescription meds, I would have to be a little tough. I would give her the option of the "easy" way ... her drinking it down ... or the "hard" way. The so called hard way was my using a medicine syringe ... you find them in the baby section of most grocery store, drug stores, etc. I would place it in her cheek and gently inject the medicine into her cheek pocket ... be careful not to send it straight down her throat or she can choke on it. Sometimes I would have to gently blow in her face to get her to swallow it. The other thing I learned was to ask the doctor if it could be mixed with juice. If it could, I'm mix it with a small amount of juice without her seeing what I was doing. It's not easy and, in my opinion, one of the hardest things you have to do as a mom. But you are the mom and when it comes to your child's health, you just have to be tough. Good luck to you.
Catnip Tea (i know it sounds weird, but it's not THAT catnip)brings down fevers instantly. You can get it a health food store and add some honey as well to sweeten it a bit. Use a dropper from the pharmacy too and make it fun. She can dip the dropper and drink it on her own. I swear by those droppers! I hope it works.
There is a flavoring that is sold in the drug store that makes medicine taste good. I do not know the name of it but maybe you can ask your pharmacist.
I just found out that Target has 21 flavors for childrens medicine. Call your doctor or the pharmacy tell them your child refuses to take the medicine and ask them for a new prescription and go to Target. Walgreens does it too.
Good Luck! S. C
She's 4....that's reason enough to not do something Mommy wants her to do...I remember when my first daughter (now a wonderful 35 yr. old) was little..I was prepared for the terrible twos, but not the frustrating fours! Anyway, sometimes you can let her win the power struggles, but not when it comes to her health...that's when YOU must be the grownup and put down your foot. If you don't want to use force, you must make not taking the stuff less desirable than taking it. Deny her anything until she does it...no TV, games, fun, etc. Believe me, she will see the error of her ways! Good luck..five is just around the corner, and that is a glorious age!
I am a 61 yr old mother of two daughters (35 & 30) and one son (26) and Nana to two grandsons and soon-to-be-born twins. I am extremely proud of all of them!
Have her help you make a shake and put some in a glass. LEt her try it and then give her more with the meds. Works for us!
Will she drink some cranberry juice? That is good for a UTI.
Did they also tell you to be careful if you use bubble bath - they can be irritating and lead to a UTI. That's how my daughter always developed them.
Deb
Two things worked for me.. bribery and "magic"
first.. have the medicine in one spoon, and ice cream ( or M&M or whatever is a forbidden treat) in another spoon. Tell her you need her help to be the doctor, and that she'll be rewarded for taking the medicine. That worked with one daughter.
With our younger daughter, I'd fill up the medicine spoon, hand it to her and looking at the ceiling chant "Elves, elves, wherever you are, come from near and come from far.. please come over, sneak right in- and help Julia take her medicine!" When she'd taken it I'd pretend to be "shocked" and ask her if she'd seen the elves.. I'd search under the table, under her bed.. And say " do you think we'll see them tomorrow?" etc...
Just try to be creative... I wish I had more general advice.. but that's what worked for me..
As a retired paramedic, I do want to caution you about calling any medicine "candy". If you do resort to that, make sure you keep all medicine under lock and key. ( that's not a bad idea anyway.. but imperative if you have made it seem like a sweet.
