Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Giveing them Medicine

Ok, this has become a huge source of frustration and worry for us. So I wonder what anyone else does.

Mr W is very, very perceptive - and combined with his intelligence and stubborness, we have run into a brick wall.

He became very sick this weekend and he was prescribed some antibiotics. The pharmacy did not mix the liquid with a sweetener so on his first dose, Mr W was very upset.

After that he decided to reject any and all meds including Motrin which he needs to keep his fever down. Prior to the antibiotic episode, he has always been very good from the syringe.

We have tried several techniques, and they work the first time, but he clues in. This weekend was an arms race to trick him into taking his meds with him making adjustments each time.

We have gone the argument route as well, telling him what it is, why he needs it, etc. He will agree with us and even get to where he will open his mouth, but at the last second, he shies away.

We seem to be at the stage where his emotions trump his intellect yet his intellect sets the stage for his emotions to be keyed.

Maybe you could ask him to help you problem solve and give him a choice for delivery method such as just swallowing fast or mixing with some food to mask taste (applesauce has always worked for us).
In addition, we always had better luck with Tylenol Meltaways rather than liquids for fever reduction.

BTDT. When the medicine *has* to go down and reasoning doesn't work, there is a quick, simple way. Got this from one of Dr. Sears books. Parent 1 sits on top of child, pinning child's arms to body with thighs, knees on side of head. Parent 2, with dropper ready, holds child's nose shut. Mouth will open, squirt medicine in, child must swallow to breathe, release nose when all medicine is gone. They are spitting mad, but the whole thing is over in less than 30 seconds vs. hours of wheedling and cajoling. HTH.

This is a tough one. For us it only got easier when ds got older.

Here's another one from the sears book (or maybe it was the the website) cold is supposed to numb the taste buds so medicine doesn't taste as bad. Have child suck on a popcycle or ice cube right before and right after the medicine. This still requires some cooperation on the part of the child so may only consistently help once Mr. W is older.

Or could work now as a one time distraction. Good luck!

Can you go back to the pharmacy and trade your old bottle of antibiotic for a new one with sweetener mixed in?

Failing that and if he's already decided he hates all medicine, regardless of flavor:

Umm. This approach works with my cats (if you think it's hard getting a young child to take medicine, try a cat). I mix the medicine into something they really, really like. Pureed-chicken baby food is always a winner. Yum! A treat!

Scaling this approach to a child, you could try mixing the antibiotic into something that will hide the bitter flavor of the medicine, such as soupy ice cream. You may have to do a little trial and error to find an amount of ice cream (or whatever) that will hide the flavor, yet not be too much to eat in a single go.

Val

Nikita- Tried Dr. Sears' method once... and it resulted in me being immediately and profusely covered in vomit. And we had to start over. I don't recommend it unless you are absolutely certain there is no other way!

Austin-
We have insisted since DS was 2 that the doctor give us chewables. Believe it or not, nearly all kids meds come in chewable form, though you may have to cut it down to size (like 1/2 or 1/4 of the tablet). DS has a huge gag reflex and GERD. Anything liquid that tastes nasty is NOT going to go down no matter what. I've given up. I've also taught him how to swallow pills and that is a thousand and one times easier. He takes medication daily and it's not coated. We just have him open his mouth, hand him a cup of ice cold water (numbs the tongue) and have him take a swallow, then plop the pill on the back of his tongue and he swallows again.

You can also ask your doc for the recommended motrin in chewables. I put these in a handful of skittles. Cut the motrin about the same size and the taste is nearly identical.

He has my taste buds.

We tried masking the stuff and he figures it out. The second time it won't work. For example, he loves applesauce - now he won't touch it.

Adding the flavor in to the meds did not help.

This made it much worse. He knows from our body language and gets really upset.

He is 20 mos old. The verbal reasoning is just not there yet. I think that in another year, this will work. We can tell him this will make him feel better in a few minutes. And he gets it. And he wants to feel better. But his emotions trump his intellect.

DS5 was given some TRULY NASTY tasting antibiotic to take recently, and had to take it for THREE WEEKS! Now, he is actually very compliant re: taking meds, so I'm not sure whether or not this will help.

The doctor recommended to give him a potato chip or two before and after the medicine. The oil/salt coat the tongue and prevent the taste from being QUITE so horrible. It doesn't get rid of the taste issue, but it did help for DS5. The added thing here is that we don't eat chips often, so this was a real treat. I took DS to the store and let him pick out 3 different bags of chips, so he could decide what he wanted. He was then allowed 2-3 chips before and after the medicine, and no one else in the house was allowed to eat them.

Good luck with this. You'll get through it!