Mom tips for helping the medicine go down:
Liquid Medicine
—If your children run every time they see the medicine dropper try giving the liquid on a fun spoon that has their favourite character on it. Measure the medicine first in the medicine dropper and transfer it to their favourite spoon. If you don’t have a favourite spoon yet, go on a special shopping mission to pick one out.
—If you are using a dropper, squeeze the liquid into the side cheek area where they won’t spit it out so easily. The roof of the mouth or on the tongue is highly sensitive to taste and touch — which may cause the child to gag or spit it out.
—Your child may see the fun in taking medicine through a straw.
Chewable Tablets
—To help with chewable tablets, try giving your child a bit of fruit such as banana or strawberry to chew with the tablet. For older children who are learning to swallow pills, eating a banana or taking a teaspoon of mayonnaise afterward will help slide it down.
Mixing Tablets with Food or Liquid
— You can use a pill crusher (a garlic presser works just as well) to crush the pills and mix them into a desired food such as applesauce, ice cream, Jello or pudding. If the color makes your child suspicious, add some rainbow sprinkles on top for camouflage, or try crushing the tablets and mixing with a few drops of water first to dissolve. This mixture can then be added to a liquid such as gripe water, juice or water.
Treats & Sweets
Here are some ideas for chasers, providing of course there are no allergies.
—Teaspoon of honey (never give honey to a child under age2)
—Water or juice
—Gripe water
—Tsp. of chocolate sauce
—Tsp. of ice cream
—Chocolate milk
—Popsicle or freezie
—Ice cube (can also be used before to numb the taste buds)
Talk in Children’s Language
—Make the medicinal process into a game or story. One mother told her son a story of how a superhero (the medicine) used his mind and weapons to fight against the enemy (the virus) — and won.
—The 1 2 3 counting method can also be useful. Counting gives a child some time to get mentally ready to take the medicine. By the time you get to “3“, she knows it’s time to take the medicine.
—Another mother tells about the playful way she gives medicine to her son. “I tell him to hold his nose, open his mouth and close his eyes. It works every time!”
—Finally, don’t forget that timing is everything. Avoid giving children medicine when they’re over-tired. Children become very unreasonable when they’re tired, and administering a medicine they dislike may become an impossible task.
DOWN THE HATCH
Some children just hate swallowing pills, or even liquid medicine. And some kids have actual physiological problems which make pill swallowing impossible. In fact, difficulty in swallowing — dysphagia — is found in about 40 percent of children with developmental problems such as prematurity, mental retardation, ADHD, autism, and cerebral palsy.
