How to help the medicine go down

Mine are still little enough that I drape my legs over her arms, pinch her mouth with my one hand and pour it with the other. Their are a lot of tears, but she gets it and it only takes about 5 seconds. Then I comfort her and tell her I'm sorry, but if she'd just take it, it wouldn't have to be that way. My oldest never had a problem taking meds, but luckily my nephew is exactly like my youngest and this was the suggestion of my sister. Maybe she is still small enough to do that with?

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With my mom it was "Either you take it or I will help you." Oh man, I never question that kind of statement.

I have heard of one mom using icing to help get antibiotics down - whatever works!

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We get everything flavored with FlavoRX. The pharmacist asks you what flavor (they have 24) and it costs about 1.25. My kids actually WANT to take medicine!

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Brute force? Sorry, I'm not much help. Orion is still at the age where medicine is "yummy!"

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I guess we are really lucky. Both of our kids are more than willing to take medicine. They actually ask to take it.
Maybe if you explain to her that if she takes her medicine it will help her to feel better faster. Then maybe give a sucker or something to get rid of the "yucky" flavor, that may help also. Another idea is to maybe give her a little bit of a heads up that she will be taking her medicine. (After breakfast you will be taking your medicine.) Maybe it will give her a little time to mentaly prepare herself.
Other than that, I really don't have a concrete answer.

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Boy Sandy, Ellie sounds just as DRAMATIC as my granddaughter who is 7. Anything like this is tramatic for her and she's been known to gag too. Ever had pink eye? Those drops were so hard for them to get in her that my son had to stay home from work as he was the only one who could do it. I agree that she is to old to hold down. Maybe try telling her a movie out or a shopping spree for a new outfit when the medicine is gone would work for her. My little one loves to go shopping with me ALONE so much and sometimes a pack of new markers and a few writing tablets is all it takes. Hope all goes well. I'll be thinking of you.

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My four year old son refuses all meds (even the kiddie-flavoured ones) and has done since he was a baby. We have had some success making up a special icecream sundae with a small scoop of icecream, "special" (ie medicinal) icecream sauce, and icecream sprinkles. Usually works for about 3-4 doses before he decides he doesn't like icecream...

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Love and Logic has a new book that deals with stuff like this, "Parenting Children with Health Issues." You can learn more at www.loveandlogic.com.

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I wish I had a good solution for this. My son is one of those children who just senses that medicine is in something and would rather fight to the death than consume it. We`ve actually had to endure hospital stays on IV to get both medicine and nutrition in, because once he thinks I put something in his food - he will eat or drink NOTHING for days. Syrup medications are the worst - and I don`t blame him, those things make me gag too.

We`ve found that medications come in a lot of different forms, and that there are often patch or suppository types of most everything but antibiotics. For those, we ask for the active ingredient powder, and can usually get by with a virtually flavorless sprinkle. My son is just getting over pneumonia, and has had to have medication for the past week and a half. He has a 24 hour patch, a suppository every 8 hours, and 2 types of powdered antibiotics. I have found that mixing them into very thick cocoa seems to work the best to get them down with minimal fight.

Have you tried slipping them into something she consumes before she knows that she is taking them? The thought of taking them seems to be what is upsetting her more than the actual taste. I have a feeling that as long as she knows that she is taking medication, it`s going to be a trauma situation for her.

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What works pretty well here, is to get the dose ready with something sweet as a chaser (juice or soda). We have our son pinch his nose and swallow the medicine quickly then take a big gulp of the sweet drink before letting go of his nose. No smell, no taste. Works great!

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With ear infection abx, I'd be inclined to just not give them to her. I'd tell her that I'm not going to fight her on it. She can take it or leave it, but she should remember the incredible pain that she was in the other night.

This puts the onus on her. The infection will either clear up on its own or she'll decide that she needs to take the meds. If she takes them, great, because the next time she needs them, she'll know that she can take it and will be more willing and able. Of course, if the infection clears up without the abx, it'll make it harder to convince her to take them when they're absolutely necessary, like for a UTI or pneumonia.

With other infections, I think abx are more necessary. Some infections don't go away without them, but research indicates that most ear infections don't require abx. If you can put the responsibility in her hands for this illness when it's not too important that she succeed, I think it would be good for her.

There is always the threat of abx by injection. I thought we were going to have to do that with our youngest. The threat wouldn't have meant anything to her, but she needs the abx and wasn't taking them. Then, she pulled a two yr old's prerogative and decided that she loves this antibiotic and that it tastes like candy.

I have also considered freezing meds in dosage sizes. They can swallow these down with a chaser. I haven't done it, yet, because I keep forgetting toask the pharmacist if freezing will damage the drug. Keeping it in the fridge helps with the taste, too.

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When mine were very little, the magic trick was letting them do it themselves -- you put the dropper in, not Mommy, wow, you're so grown up.

For the older ones, it's been a combo: They're very firmly told that if you don't take the medicine, you don't get to complain about your sore throat or whatever -- I simply won't be able to hear any whining you do about it.

But if you *do* take the medicine, you can have a mini Hershey bar afterwards.

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I hate to admit this, but I recently had the same problem, and I used bribery!! I promised her a new toy at the end, and I also reminded her how much pain she was in and that it might return. She had just suffered from 2 ear infections in one month, so it seemed to work! Good luck!

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