We have a sick house this week, with both kids suffering from coughs, sore throats, temperatures and in Eva's case, a viral infection - just, you know, for the hell of it.
The doc has given us suppositories for her, but not the usual Paralink slim-sized jobs, oh no, these are some serious looking things. They sort of look like, well,
bullets, really.
I know that suppositories are much more effective in terms of administering medication, and especially for small kids, but now that she's a little bit older (16 months), she's all too aware of what we're trying to do and she's having none of it.
Cue the last 24 hours of holding my daughter's legs in the air and keeping my finger against her bum, as I try to keep the blasted thing from shooting back out, while she bawls her head off.
I've tried distracting her with a bottle, her favourite Peppa Pig episodes (the one where Daddy Pig tried to be a magician always makes her roar laughing - the innocence!), singing songs to her - but after a few minutes, it's always the same outcome: the suppository is discarded and I've just been holding on to my daughters bum hole for ten minutes, for no good reason.
Like many things, getting Eva to take medicine was so much easier when she was a baby-baby and didn't know too much. Now? We can't get away with anything.
Know how to insert a suppository? Here are a few tips:
1. If your child needs to empty their bowels this should be done before inserting the suppository.
2. You may find it easier to give your child the suppository if they are lying on their side or on their front. Do whatever is more comfortable for your child.
3. Wash your hands.
4. To unwrap a suppository, tear one from the strip along the perforations then peel it from the plastic wrapping by holding the two halves of the wrapping at the tip of the suppository and gently peeling them apart.
5. If necessary moisten the tip, then gently push the suppository into your child’s back passage (rectum) with the pointed end first.
6. Try to keep your child still for a minute or two.
7. Wash your hands.
Got any other tips? Let us know in the comments! 
