Help!! Tips for giving panadol to 1yo - he HATES it!!

[Plinky]

Hi all,

My poor little monkey is really sick atm and we're trying to give him panadol to help him sleep and feel a bit better. BUT, he's having none of it. Doesn't matter how we try to give it to him, he spits it out and either spews or tries to spew.

I'm at my wits end, I just want to help him but he won't take it I've tried a syringe into his mouth, mixed with water, mixed with grape juice, on its own out of the little measuring cup...nothing works. Does anyone have any tips? Please?!!

[*Efjay*]

You know I have 2 kids who are like this.. What works for me...... Fizzy drink. Like Fanta or creaming soda. Just a little but enough to get the dose in & down!

[Michelle71]

Nurofen Mine don't particularly like the taste of panadol but will happily take nurofen.

[krysalyss]

The baby panadol and the childrens panadol are different flavours so he might be ok with one and not the other. DS always was ok with the baby stuff but not the kids. But the kids one has a different dosage as it has a different strength so if you do change make sure you check the amount to give for the weight. We also liked the babies because it was more concentrated so we only had to get a small amount in.

[nickle730]

My DS (5) has always vomited on contact with Panadol and he can't have Nurofen. If he really needs the Paracetamol I use PR Panadol. Erm... that's per rectal. Make sure you use lube and be gentle. Available over the counter at the chemist. We don't use it very often and if we do he is usually so lethargic and unwell or febrile that he doesn't care.

[Life is Good]

DS won't take Panadol either. Have you tried Dymadon? It is also just paracetamol, but has an orange flavour (similar to nurofen). Our DS quite likes it. Failing that, one way to get/keep it down is to get someone to help you so that straight after you inject it into his mouth, you squeeze his cheeks...that way he can't spit it out and has to swallow. Sounds mean, but it depends on how desperate you are and in how much pain he is (we had to do this when giving DS his reflux medication). Good luck.

[mumof3sons]

I have the same trouble with both my sons. Panadol is so bad tasting for them, they throw up straight away. I have had to use Nurofen, the unconcentrated panadol (childrens panadol) has a better taste but the artifial sweetner in it give DS2 severe runny bum so I dont use it. You can try using there favorite cake and allowing the cake to soak up the medicine. But sometimes all I can do is a wet cloth to cool them down and put life on hold to give lots of cuddles.

[Lily Dust]

I ended up going with Nurofen cause DD hates panadol too. I do however find panadol brings her temp down better and when we HAVE to use it she thinks its a great game to suck it off a spoon instead of the syringe. Many less dramas in this house now she will do that, worth a try, perhaps? Good luck

[Calluna]

DS hates the stuff too. He'll happily take nurofen though.

[Bella29]

you have been given some very good advice here. Despite it sounding a bit icky the PR panadol is actually really good stuff! I have 6 years experience in ED and so have had to try everything at least once. I find that as long as they aren't the kind of child who has the instant reaction of vomiting with panadol that a special technique with a syringe will work. you need to squeeze their cheeks enough to open their mouths and then put the syringe in about an inch and a half. Enough so that you can press down the tongue. If you watch their tongues when you give kids panadol and they don't like it you will notice that their tongues rise to push out the liquid. So if you can stop them from lifting that tongue up, their swallow reflex will take over. If you are gentle but firm and confident it is all over before you can say boo. Having said that I really do think the pr panadol is a great option. Kids don't have the icky factor programmed in at 1 yet and so for them it isn't distressing.

Good luck with whatever you choose to do, and remember you can give panadol and neurofen. Just stick to the daily dosages recommended for each in a day if you choose to give both

xx Bel

[Nai]

Chemist's own brand paracetemol here (both DD's vomited with panadol) and I put it in their bottle mixed with milk.

[Junglemum]

We too vomit at our place with panadol but have no probs with dymadon. It's exactly the same pharmaceutical, ie. Paracetamol, but has a much nicer flavour. It's in a purple box at the pharmacy.

I also find letting them hold the syringe can sometimes help.

[~Kim~]

I was going to suggest the same as Bella, panadol comes in suppositories (just in case you didn't know what PR meant - per rectum). And worst case, wait until they are asleep to pop them in.

[*Belle*]

my kids spew out the panadol too, they however will take nurofen by syringe, it tastes like strawberry DD1 says. It works better on my kids, but everyone is different, I cant take nurofen as im asthmatic, be careful if your kid is asthmatic xxx

[Miss.B]

I would vomit too if someone tried to give me the baby panadol! What is with the disgusting taste? My DS doesn't vomit but he really resists it when I try to give it to him, so we've used nurofen here too. It's got a much nicer orange flavour. The only thing is that I've heard some pretty crappy stuff about ibuprofen (sp?) so will buy him the dymadon (thanks Life is Good!) to try next. Hope your wee man recovers soon, with lots of mummy and daddy cuddles and some nicer medication!

[Snacks]

Oooh yes, P hates panadol. The chemists own brand works for us, but not the concentrated version (it tastes just as bad as panadol). There is more to feed them but if you are really upbeat while you administer it (ie. "Ooooooh! Yummmy! Gooooood girl! etc etc) then it seems to go down ok.

[Plinky]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. We ended up taking him to the a/h doc cos he was getting gunk in his eyes & had a massive swollen lip from an ulcer...she prescribed antibiotics (which he loved for some reason ), and we tried getting the chemist-brand paracetemol & some Nurofen too. Haven't used the Nurofen yet, but it was the same story with the paracetemol...we had to pretty much force it down him which wasn't nice to do. But hopefully he will rest a bit easier tonight. My poor little man is so sick In this day and age you'd think they'd come up with a better way to give pain relief...humpf.

Thanks so much

[grub17]

DS won't take Panadol either. Have you tried Dymadon? It is also just paracetamol, but has an orange flavour (similar to nurofen). Our DS quite likes it.

Us too. DS hates Panadol and won't take... never would since he was about 4 months and getting his first teeth. But he's happy to take Dymadon or Nurofen.