Any advise on giving medicine to a 5 year old?

Question

My 5 year old daughter got her tonsils and adnoids out 4 days ago and will not take any medicine for the pain,The doctor gave tylonol with codine and said to switch to plain tylonol after 4 or 5 days,the first day she took the medicine after a 2 hour argument and was able to eat pudding jello ect..Now I can not get her to take anything,she wakes up at night and complains that her throat hurts,I tried for 3 hours yesterday,I tried promising gifts,taking toys away,explaining why medicine is important,I put it in her pudding and so on,she has trouble eating because of the pain but will not take the medicine for anything in the world.this has been going on for three days now, I dont know what to do anymore.

Answer 1

I have a 4yr old who as basically taken medicine of one shape or another since she was 4 mos old.  Her daily meds she takes w/no problems.  When she has to take cough meds or antibiotics the she doesn't like the taste.  I have found that using a syringe and hitting further down her throat helps.  She was 2 when she had the same operation and it hurts to drink anything.  Also a special drink after meds helps or a popsicle.

Answer 2

when i had my tonsils out the pain medication didn't work anyways.

Answer 3

You could try the chewable Tylenol or Motrin.  It tastes more like candy and doesn't really have that burning medicine feel to the throat and mouth.

Answer 4

If she likes movies you may want to try showing her Mary Popins and when the 'spoon full of sugar' song comes up tell her that she should take her medicine and then she can have a spoon full of sugar. You could sing the song together.  Turn it into a playtime activity and she might not even realize shes being forced to take medicine.  (If you're on a roll you might even get her to clean her room at the same time!)