Administering Medicine to Toddlers

LittleBook

Looking for tips on how to get an extremely stubborn 3-year-old boy to take his medicine.

In fairness to him the stuff is foul, but it has to be done.

We've tried withholding favourite TV programmes, bribing with sweets, mixing the medicine with other things and ... well "forcing" is maybe too strong a word but ...

How do people get their kids to drink this disgusting stuff??

Thanks!

CJhaughey

I use a 5ml or 10ml syringe, use a bit of honey or similar on the end, and squirt it in to the back of the mouth, the natural reaction is to swallow.
Worked for me, and far easier then trying to use a spoon into a reluctant mouth.

JoeyJJ

My 1 year old is reluctant to take calpol some times and the syringe is a good solution however getting her to open her mouth is usually the problem and bad daddy usually has to do it.

silja

Yep, syringe.
Lately, we have also been using reverse psychology: telling them how nice the medicine is and how yummy and that we didn't think they should have any... well maybe if they are well behaved they can have some.... It worked well for the cold they had two weeks ago but it won't work forever :P

Kildrought

You could try being honest - depends how mature your toddler is.

When my son was that age, I recall having to give medication in a crushed tablet (at the time it wasn't possible to give it in liquid form). I sandwiched the powder between two layers of jam.

Before I gave it to him though, I explained what it was, that it didn't taste very nice, but that I had done my best to take the taste away with the jam - and he could have a drink of Coke/milk or whatever to take the taste away.

He was surprisingly good about it; he asked me to get him a variety of jams and the morning ritual was to choose what jam he'd like today! :-)

Davidth88

Syringe works well

I remember when our little one was bout 9 months we were trying to give her medicine , we were both faffing around and more medicine was ending up on the floor than in her mouth. My sister in law , qualified nurse/mother of 3 , grabbed the spoon , grabbed our daughters head jammed the spoon in , pulled it out , and there you go...... I think you have to be a little firm .

Of course for a 3 year old , not so easy they can run away etc.

metrovelvet

Hide it in custard.

deisemum

My mother used to crush tablets and mix them in jam.

Syringe works well. If child is refusing to open their mouth just put your finger across their nostrils and they open their mouth very quickly.

Also avoid faffing about, if a child is on an antibiotic or other necessary medicine then the medicine has to be taken as directed and it's not something that's up for negotiation, by all means explain why it's necessary depending on the age of the child. I agree with the poster's sister in law who was matter of fact about it.

If child is still unco-operative if possible ask someone else to administer it as they're less likely to put up such a struggle.

stovelid

Syringe works best for us.

nesf

Syringe works. Just pray you never have to try and force eye drops on a toddler. It's not much fun pinning them down and forcing their eyes open.

LittleBook

Thanks everyone!

We normally use the syringe but he simply won't take this stuff, it is THAT disgusting. He's only just 3 so explaning, reasoning, negotiating (we're always honest) hasn't worked.

Actually the crushed tablets might be easier to disguise and a bit more tasteless so we'll see if we can change the prescription.

Thanks again

CJhaughey

nesf wrote: »

Syringe works. Just pray you never have to try and force eye drops on a toddler. It's not much fun pinning them down and forcing their eyes open.

Sounds a bit Clockwork Orange...:D

nesf

CJhaughey wrote: »

Sounds a bit Clockwork Orange...:D

Yeah. Very. We gave up after two tries, just wasn't worth the fight that it brought.

trish23

My 3 year old has always taken her medicine no problem - anything so long as it's on a white spoon. She got a prescription the other day though & it's foul! Smells foul too although it's bright pink, which I thought would attract. You should have seen her face the first time she took it - priceless! I had a few episodes where I had to beg, plead, bargain etc... Now I put 2 jellybeans in her hand & tell her that she can have them straight after to take the taste away & so far so good...Still 4 days to go...

LittleBook

trish23 wrote: »

She got a prescription the other day though & it's foul! Smells foul too although it's bright pink

That sounds VERY familiar