Liquid Amoxicillin for my 5yo – It tastes like fruity bubblegum and he WONT take it

[Guest]

My 5yo was perscribed liquid amoxicillin from an infected tooth he had to have pulled. It tastes like fruity bubblegum and he WONT take it.

He let's it run out of his mouth and refuses to swallow it. What can I mix it with to make it more appealing.

He will take Tylenol and Ibuprofen so I mixed it with that yesterday, but he no longer needs those and we still have to get this antibiotic in him.

He doesn't like poches, applesauce, and he refused the yogurt as well.

[Sade]

I hold my son down football style and force his mouth open and shoot it in call me mean but he still loves me.

[Carrie]

My pharmacist friend said to mix it in a shot of Hershey’s syrup. She said never pay for the flavoring because the Hershey’s hides it better anyway.

[Victoria]

Hold him with his head back towards the floor while someone syringe it in his mouth he has no choice to swallow sounds cruel but you have to be cruel to be kind sometimes.

[Sylvia]

Have you tried bribing him with something he likes? Like ice cream or something? My toddler will eat just about anything for a piece of chocolate. Of course this isn’t a good tactic to use all the time but for medication it seems like it’d be okay.

[Kate]

Don’t mix it in anything! That just runs the very high risk that he then doesn’t eat the whole dose.

Use the oral syringe that they provided, fill it with tiny tiny amounts (like 0.25 ml ish), and then squirt it into the back of his cheek pocket. There won’t be enough to really spit out, and the act of trying to spit it out will help him swallow it. It take longer and there’s lots of crying involved, but he’ll actually get his full dose.

[Aditi]

One of the nurses at my GP told me to use the syringe n push meds in inner cheek, and then told me blow air on my lil girls face. It works every time.

[Shannon]

I’ve tried masking medicine for my 5 year old, but he still won’t take it that way. So I have to bargain with him, give him spurts with a syringe and he gets to chase with water. We do a countdown before each spurt and calm breaths in between. He gets really anxious taking it and this works for us.

Good luck!

[Julia]

OK so my kid HATES all medicine. There’s a few ways to go. We have used whipped cream with it drizzled on top before.

We have also swaddled her, put the syringe in the back of the throat and blown in her face while slowing pushing the meds.

Those are the 2 most successful ways we have given meds.

[Ashley]

The 5ml medicine syringe that comes with baby Tylenol. We Tilt my 2yo sons head back slightly and push the meds into or towards the cheek area and offer some water after. He hates it but we tell him he has to have it and just hurry and swallow so its over in no time. He usually obliges. Good luck.

[Lindsey]

Just here to say that I'm intolerant to antibiotics and can't take them. And I've had multiple teeth pulled and multiple oral surgeries and tooth and other types of infections; the thing that helped the most (because I never took antibiotics) was actually the ibuprofen as it kept the swelling down and allowed the infection to heal like overnight!

So don't beat yourself up if he can't take it. Hope this helps if you need it.

[Brenda]

You have to be careful mixing medications with a liquid. Some are not compatible with certain drinks. Pediatricians will tell you that when drinking it mixed, a child will not always get all the medicine. Chocolate syrup before and/or after is great. It has an oily base to coat the tongue. Sometimes it truly is taking a syringe and squirt small bits into side cheek and gently holding their mouth closed till they swallow it.