General Tips for Making the Medicine Go Down
•Make sure your child is standing or sitting up at least a 45-degree angle when taking any medicine. This reduces the risk of choking.
•Give liquid medicine along the side of the mouth, about halfway down. If it goes directly to the center of your child’s palate, it will trigger a gag. Place tablets on the back of the tongue or they will be spit out.
•Disguise a medicine’s bad taste when possible. Favorite vehicles include applesauce, yogurt, pudding, smooth peanut butter (for kids 18 months and older), and jam. For the most resistant cases, try soft candy pieces, ice cream, or chocolate syrup.
•Mixing a medication with a liquid such as juice, formula, or milk can be problematic because a significant part of the medicine will be left coating the cup, glass, or bottle. If you use a liquid to dilute medicine, use a small amount and be sure all of it gets into your child.
•If you use a spoon, use the measuring type — it’s more accurate than ordinary tableware. Better yet, use a plastic medicine spoon with dosage markings.
•Never refer to medicine as candy — you’re setting up a potentially dangerous confusion. Tell it like it is.
•Never allow a child younger than a teenager to take his medicine unsupervised for any reason.
•Don’t bargain or bribe. The stakes will just escalate. Also, you give the message that taking medicine is a negotiable activity when it really isn’t. Give your child some choice in the situation — such as what cup he wants to drink a chaser from or what room he wants to take his medicine in — but don’t imply that anyone has a choice about whether he will take the medicine.
•Don’t punish a child who refuses to take medicine. Most medicine tastes nasty, and we’re all programmed to avoid bitter tastes, which are generally poisons when found in nature. Just insist and plow ahead. And when the mission has been accomplished, don’t forget the BIG hug and congratulations on a job well done — for both of you!
