Getting your child to take their medicine isn’t always easy.
There’s nothing more heartbreaking than a sick child, and luckily, at The Online Drugstore, our baby care shop has a wide selection of over-the-counter medications for sick babies and kids. However, getting your child to actually take their medicine can be a real chore. That’s why, in our last blog, we started covering expert tips for getting picky kids to take their medicine. If you haven’t had a chance to read it yet, check it out! Keep reading to learn more helpful tips and tricks for convincing your child to take their medicine. :
#6. Encourage your child to play doctor.
Your child probably isn’t too excited about the idea of having to choke down some nasty medicine, but if they’re the ones responsible for dispensing it, it will make them more likely to take it. You won’t really allow your child to dispense their own medication, but encouraging them to play doctor and to pretend to give their stuffed animals or dolls the medication can make it easier to convince them to take it themselves.
#7. Combine the medicine with food.
Mixing the medicine with food is an old, time-honored tradition that can make it a lot easier to convince your child to take their medicine. Of course, you don’t want to do this with cough syrup or liquid medication. But in many cases, it’s more than acceptable to open a capsule and sprinkle the medication inside in food, or to crush up pills to put in food. However, you’ll want to ensure that you talk to your child’s doctor before you do. Some medications are time-release, and you could damage them if you crush them or open them.
#8. Deceive their taste buds.
The bad taste of medicine is, by far, the biggest reason why some kids will do just about anything to avoid taking their medicine. And while some medications can be flavored or hidden in foods, that’s not always the case. For those other medications that aren’t so easy to cover up the bad taste of, you can deceive your child’s tongue to make the medicine go down easier. For example, giving your child something cold, like a popsicle, before they take their medicine will numb the tongue and dull the taste of the medicine. You could also give your child a small spoonful of chocolate syrup before giving them their medicine. The chocolate will coat the tongue and diminish the taste of the medicine.
#9. Teach your child how to swallow pills.
Giving your child medicine in pill form is almost always easier than trying to get them to swallow syrup. And even kids as young as four years old can be taught how to swallow pills safely. At first, teach them to swallow small pieces of candy, like Mini M&Ms. When you’re ready to move onto pills and capsules, you can do a few things to make them easier to swallow, including:
- Give your child a spoonful of applesauce or jello with the pill to help it go down easier.
- Dip capsules in water before giving it to your child to make them slippery.
- Instruct your child to hold their nose while swallowing pills.
- Break up larger pills into smaller pieces.
#10. Talk to your child’s doctor about alternatives.
If you’ve tried everything and you just can’t seem to get your child to take their medicine, you may have more luck with a different medication. These days, there are many different cold medicines, antibiotics, flu medicines, etc., and chances are, there is an alternative out there that may work better for you. If nothing else, there’s a good chance that the medication will come in another form, like a chewable tablet or a capsule that can be broken apart, and that will make it easier for your child to take.
We hope that these tips will help you successfully convince your child that they need to take their medicine!
If you’re looking for over-the-counter medicines to help your child recover from a cold or another illness, shop with us at The Online Drugstore today. We carry all of the tops brands, from Mucinex to Dimetapp, and you’ll love our low prices!
