Any tips on getting my girls to take Cephalexin?

Both of the girls have strep and one of them had it 2 weeks ago. The dr. prescribed Cephalexin this time. I think we had this when they were younger and they hated it then too. I had it flavored bubble gum, thinking it would taste similar to Amoxicillin, which they love. They run away from me when they see it coming. They won't open their mouths. It's amazing how smart they are at this age. I feel like half of it is getting down and the other half is all over the place, including me. The 2nd bottle we got flavored grape. We'll see if they like that any better. Any advice? We are only on day 3 of 10.

 

Bleh, I feel for you and your girls! Jack had to be on a mighty cocktail of drugs after his hypospadias surgery, including Cephalexin. I honestly think that was the worst, just because there was *so much* of it *so often*.

Jack got the same way; he'd start to turn away and struggle as soon as we came at him with a plunger of medicines (and he had 3-4 at a time). The only thing that worked was to do it at meals or snacks so he was in his high chair, hold his head with his chin up with one arm, then push the nose of the plunger in between his teeth (okay, gums; he didn't have very many teeth then) toward the back/side of his mouth, if that makes sense. This was not pleasant, but I knew it was very important to get him to take the medicine. It also helped to squirt just a little at a time, allowing him to swallow, but never removing the medicine syringe. Sometimes if we pushed the whole dose in his mouth, he'd spit it right back out.

I felt a little bit like I was abusing the poor child, but the doctor stressed the importance of getting him his medicine, so we just tried to get it over with quickly with minimal fuss, and lots of praise afterward. I will reassure you that they forget very quickly; within 2 weeks of finshing his course of medicines, he wouldn't shy away from the medicine dropper any more, and he would take stuff like Ibuprofen without any problem.

Good luck finding a method that works, and I hope your girls are feeling better! :hug:

 

Do you use a syringe or a spoon to give them the medication? Maybe try the other of what you are using and that might make them interested in taking the medication??

 

YOu need to straddle him/her and push it into the cheek not the mouth. Do half, swallow, then half.

My kids, luckily, do not mind taking meds. That is a good thing since we are on them 24-7 for their ears! But, the best method for us, is on the changing table or me straddling on floor and DEFINITELY in the cheek so they cannot taste it. I don't even flavor them anymore cuz as long as it's in cheek they cannot taste it. I CHASE it w/ ibuprofen too cuz they love that!

GL!

And remember, for strep and ear infections if they just CANNOT take the meds, you can get a shot.

The cheek method does work tho.

 

Absolutely! We have the same problems with our boys and their reflux medicine which is peppermint flavored (I guess they take after me than their dad- I HATE peppermint and their dad likes it).

For us, we put it in their milk!

If the antibiotic can be taken with/close to milk, mix it in their milk if schedule allows. For us we need at least 3 oz of milk to mask the taste enough so they will drink it.

If it can't mix with milk, if they drink juice try that.

 

Thanks for the advice. I think straddling them is the only way to get them to take it. I've tried the syringe and the spoon and they take one taste and spit it out. Now, just the word medicine freaks them out. They see me coming and run away. I've tried the cheek and they still spit it out. I found holding them down and just squirting a little in their cheek at a time seemed to work better. They still managed to spit some out, but at least it wasn't all over the place. I feel bad doing it, but I know they need it. I figure if by Mon. they still aren't taking it well, I might call and see if we could do a shot. That would be so much easier at this point. They love Amoxicillin and Motrin, though. They fight over taking that stuff. I just need to do this for another week, hopefully. I just pray it doesn't come back again like it just did. Thanks again!!!

 

Ya. You need to keep track of how much goes in and how much comes out cuz they will need the shot if too much comes out. I was a shot getter from age 2 until 12!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i'll never forget sitting on the "donut" in my car seat but I would NOT swallow that medicine! LOL.

My kids have no choice cuz I squeeze their cheeks shut while I push the syringe IF I feel a problem coming on.. TRY that!

(the fish face.)

You are not scaring anyone for life.)

You're doing good! Come he** or high water, you're doing the right thing! Curing them of this illness! I'm sorry you have to deal w/ this!

Keep us posted!

 

This might be a little late for now, but good advise for later or next time.

Ask the Pharmacist to flavor it chocolate. When I asked they said chocolate, and I think Grape, are the strongest flavors out there to cover up the 'medicine' flavor. We had that problem too, I think the same medicine, it's some type of 'cillin' that is HORRIBLE tasting/smelling.

Our pharmacy stopped using flavors, which is what prompted me to ask. The first time I used chocolate, I just got some hershey's syrup and I would put the medicine in the syringe first, then suck up some chocolate syrup (I stored the syrup in a seperate container from the rest of the syrup to avoid contamination) They'd taste the choclate, and not say anything about the medicine after it went down.. The Pharmacist told me that was fine to mix it like that, so long as we did it at each indivdual dosing time.