The boys were both in overnight and neither would take the painstop at the hospital. We tried with a milkshake (and in a milkshake) in a cup, in a syringe, in a syringe with chocolate or strawberry topping and with a variety of crazy bribes but to no avail. We talked our eldest into it at home and then he realised it made him feel better so now he still cries but has it after about 10 minutes of complaining.

That panamax sounds great - I might try to get some of that. Only problem is its for the 2 year old who wouldn't even take panadol after being in hospital because he thought it was the painstop. We have to go through the whole thing of showing him the different bottles and him watching where the medicine is coming from before he will even consider taking the panadol. He keeps asking for nurofen which he isn't allowed to have.

We have increased their dosage of the pain medication and we have to check in again tomorrow. They have had much less water today (250mls and 150mls) but 4 year old also had two bowls of nutri grain and a sandwich (which took almost 2 hours to eat) so has a bit of milk in that. Now its the 2 year old going down hill. He tries to eat anything and then as soon as he swallows he screams and takes a good 15 minutes to calm down. Even with soft scrambled egg... ever feel like you just can't win??

Glad your going better than me Lukesmum. You must have a strong little man there...and nickers - don't worry too much. The ENT surgeon said it is uncommon for kids to refuse to drink for so long so I'm sure yours will go better than mine. Good luck and just keep thinking about how much better they will be once the recovery is over - its the only thing getting me through.