Q&A: Giving a 3-year-old medicine

Update on my back: As I suspected, it's psychosomatic (totally went away while I was on vacation and then returned within an hour of being back in the city) but is also real: muscle cramps in the pyriformis region. Treatment: Start actually doing T-Tapp again instead of just talking about it (funny how talking about exercise doesn't actually do anything for your body) and a really painful massage that worked out all the cramps. I'm still not pain-free but the pain seems to be moving out of my body by the day.

And now for a parenting question. BlueBird Mama writes:

"I've run into a big challenge around medicine with my 3 year old.  He doesn't get sick very often or have to go to the doctor often, but when he does require medical care or medicine, it's a nightmare.
We've improved his loathing of going to the doctor and getting his ears/nose/mouth examined by getting a doctor kit and playing doctor at home a lot.  We even take the doctor kit to the doctor's office and she lets him examine her first.  So that's getting a bit better (though he still hates going to the doctor and bristles at the mere mention of it).  But I honestly found it easier to give medicine to my cat (who had very sharp claws and didn't like it very much) than I do to my child.  I try reasoning with him, I try bribing him (which I normally avoid like the plague), I try offering choices (spoon or little cup? plain or mixed with juice?), I try letting him be in control (you can take it now or in 15 minutes; you can hold the spoon yourself, etc.), I try making it a game, etc., etc., etc. ad nauseum.

Oh, by the way, he can detect the flavor of medicine if we try to sneak it into milk/juice/whatever.  A spoonful of sugar does not make the medicine go down easier in his case.  Maybe if we could manufacture medicinal jelly beans?  In any case, every time we've ever had to give him medicine his whole life, we end up holding him down and squirting it down his throat with one of those syringe things. Well, at least that worked last fall when he had croup; this time around he's figured out that he can close his throat and spit the medicine back out.  Awesome.

This is an infrequent occurrence (thank goodness!), but sometimes medicine is necessary.  I absolutely hate administering it to him under duress--but I really don't know what to do. Unfortunately, infrequent as it is, it now has become a *THING* for him-- he immediately starts girding for battle the minute he knows there might be medicine involved.  I know it must be a control issue.  I mean, I know medicine tastes yucky, but this is a child who happily eats anchovy pasta and willingly tries new foods, so I don't think he's experiencing the kind of agony a picky super-taster with oral issues would.  Maybe the croup episode (which involved an over night stay at the hospital) traumatized him (he didn't seem traumatized at the time, but you never know)?  Do you or your readers have any tips, tricks, sage advice?  Will he grow out of it?  Am I going to have to sit on him to get him to take his antibiotics in high school? Aaarrrggghhhh!

Feeling Like a Mean Mommy"

Yeah, I don't know. I can't even give medicine to my cat (who made a full recovery from his near-death experience).

This is also why I miss the Tylenol suppositories you could give to your infant children. No muss, no fuss--just up the chute and it was all copacetic.

It sounds like you've tried almost everything, so I'll just give you the couple of suggestions that popped out at me, knowing that they might not help any more than anything else you've tried:

• Find a pharmacy that will put flavoring in the medicine. It hides the taste better than juice does, and maybe the fake bubble gum flavoring will somehow work a miracle.
• See if you can catch the episode of "Penguins of Madagascar" in which Skipper runs and hides because he's afraid of getting a shot. (Private ends up volunteering to take the extra shot for him until the monkeys point out that that could make Private sick. I don't want to spoil the rest, since I know you probably hang on the edge of your seat as much as I do for PoM.) You can talk about how Skipper has to get the shot, so he's brave and just does it.
• Get him some kind of doll who gets medicine when he does. (A doll with a washable face, obviously.)

The bottom line, though, is to remember that 3-year-olds are really NOT rational yet. It's very very hard for them to see that there are things they have to do, so they should get them over with as quickly as possible. That seems to click in with kids some time between 5 and 8 (in my experience), depending on the kid. So this isn't going to be something you deal with forever. At some point you'll have a kid who complains like crazy about taking medicine, but ultimately holds his nose and slams it back like Gretchen Wilson shooting whiskey.

Is anyone really good at giving kids medicine who has some good tips? Or does anyone else want to share your medicine-giving failures?

Comments

[Sarah S]

This might not work for everyone, but we've found that if we wake him halfway up when he's sound asleep and give it to him then, he'll just swallow and then go back to sleep.

[vanessa]

I have the opposite problem -- a kid who loves medicine so much that we have to be super careful about leaving things out, even cat pills on high shelves. He had a bad cold with fever and I had to give him some Motrin in the middle of the night. He literally smacked his lips and said "that's some good Motrin!"

However, I was apparently just the opposite when I was a kid. I even remember having showdowns about taking cough medicine, so we're talking 5 or 6 years old. Apparently it all changed one day when we were vacationing with friends. My younger sister and I both had ear infections and had to take antibiotics. According to my mom, I was gearing up for battle when my sister, who was three or four at the time, opened her mouth obediently and took it without fuss. I was thus shamed into cooperating, or risk appearing like a huge baby in front of my friends.

So... any chance there is a sibling or friend who takes medicine easily, who your kid could witness taking medicine? I'm not suggesting a big "why can't you be more like X" song and dance, but just something that can be arranged to happen in the course of normal playtime?

Just a thought.

[Kate]

I am going through this right this instant with my 4 yo. He is FINE with shots (!), and over the past six months or so became fine with liquid meds (we found that we had to let him control the process--he likes to alternate sips of med with sips of water; then we pile on the praise...it got a little crazy when we had him do it for my parents via skype, but it got us through 10 days of dosings for strep and for an ear infection this winter).

Achilles heel? Eye drops for pink eye, which of course is PROBABLY viral, but since he can't go to preschool unless we do SOMETHING this is what we do.

He screams and bucks like a bronco and there is just no way to reason with him (seriously, was promising chocolate chips at 7 am). He's getting too big/strong to sit on.

Seriously, having another kid would be so worth it just to have a source of breastmilk that I could pour over his eyes and massage in instead of trying to aim that teeny little dropper.

Ahem. But this is not about me.

Sorry, I got nothing but sympathy. Maybe it will be like toothbrushing was for us: not ok for so so long, then suddenly fine.

[Stephanie]

I think this is pretty common. We have friends with two boys, and the mom told us that one of the skills we have to learn is how to hold them down with your legs while you use your hands to administer the medicine. And this was just a casual parenting tip! It sounds like BlueBird Mama has tried everything, so it might just be a 'do what you gotta do' kind of situation.

[Monica]

Oh! This has always been a huge issue for my daughter (now 3.5). I don't know why she's always had the extreme medicine aversion, but yeah.

They still make the acetaminophen suppositories (feverall), which will do the trick if nothing else works...but now that he's 3, I'd recommend that you try what worked for us. Talk to your doc about chewable meds (it didn't sound like you've tried that, forgive me if I'm wrong).

There are chewable antibiotics (not in stock at all pharmacies, but they do exist), and of course chewable ibuprofen and acetaminophen. My daughter loves 'em all. She wants nothing to do with the liquid form of any medicine, flavored or not. It is exactly like trying to dose a cat. And you mentioned thinking it might be a control issue--he does have more control over a chewable, because he can put it in his own mouth. I think that is part of it for my daughter.

[jen]

I wish there was an easy method. My daughter (almost 3) switches between requesting medicine and rejecting everything. We use either the little cup or a syringe. The little cup works great when she actually wants medicine.

When she rejects that, we move to the syringe. I have found that the key with the syringe is to make sure to wash off the outside after you draw the medicine into it. Cajoling, sneak attacks, and plenty of sips to drink finally get the medicine down.

Also, see if your doc can prescribe the meds in a crushable pill form. Crush and mix with a spoonful of fruit puree or chocolate pudding.

[ACJ]

So, what about umm, lying?

Doctor Jane says you're not to have any more medicine. In fact, she has written it in your file: "Johnny will have no medicine of any kind." Instead she has made up some potions to make you stronger, bigger, bouncier, faster. It comes in old fashioned medicine bottles but you take it with this magic, decorated spoon/syringe/eye dropper. We're to take to for 10 days and measure your height and your speed at 4pm every day and report back if it's working. Will you put make us a chart so we can keep track?

As for eye drops, lie child on back. Shut eyes. Drop drops into corner of eye. Open eyes. Meds run in, at least as much as gets in the other way and the dread of staring that dropper in the face is eased. Works great for grown-ups too. Tip from ER doc we know...

A.

[ACJ]

To be clear, patient should shut eyes. Not administrator of said eye drops. Although that would be fun in a pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey kind of way.

[Julia Roberts (really)]

For two kids that have kidney disease (and recent transplants) we're all about the meds.Daily, multiple, flavored and not. Seriously? 20 liquids total a day 2x day for both kids at the height. Here are notes/tips/tricks...

1) Sometimes you just have to liquid squirt them down. Not fun. For my son, yes, but daughter no. Each kid has their own sensitivity level. We found that chasers before and after work well and help when you can make it a treat - like choc milk.

2) When they were little we used to make a game out of it by doing them before daddy saw...and then we'd tell daddy we were not doing meds no matter what (but was a big joke because they were already done.) This was very helpful bc it made me and the kids in cahoots - very cute. Was also extremely helpful with shots I had to give. We'd do the meds/shots when daddy walked around the corner (dad was in on it obviously).

3) role play...treats...special charts/stars and they get a little prize out of the box when they get so many stars.

4) to transfer to pills from liquids we practiced with mini m&ms or tictacs, worked wonders and one was on pills at 4 and one at 6 which makes it all easier - especial capsules.

[Cathy]

Ooh, ACJ, that's good stuff; thanks. We definitely have this issue with my three-year-old daughter, and although she's had a long run of good health, she's about to start daycare, so that will clearly end. I have a related question, actually, about vitamins: M. refuses to eat or drink any dairy foods (though there's no allergy) and also rejects soy milk, calcium-fortified juice -- in fact, she'll only drink water. So her doctor has urged us to give her a multivitamin with calcium, but she spits those out, too. So here's the question: obviously, the medical consensus would be that she really needs both the calcium and the vitamin D, but the consensus is also that food battles with three year olds are doomed and freighted with emotional costs on both sides. We haven't forced the vitamins or the milk -- partly because I don't know how to *make* her swallow something she doesn't want to swallow, and partly because even if I did I'm not sure that's a routine I could follow twice a day every day without scarring both of us. But not doing the vitamins makes me feel terribly negligent. This is a kid who has made it clear from birth that she really, really wants to control what goes into her mouth -- do I respect that, or do I try to fight it out of her? I'll think about trying ACJ's routine -- she is big on pretending....

[Cathy]

I like the idea of making up a story about it...It could even be sort of true, e.g. like it's made out of bread mold and real germs (or pixie dust or whatever will work).

We've had to do the holding and squirting here. Where we'll squirt in a tiny bit, but then we applaud wildly, even if she is fussing and fighting and yelling and really mad about the whole medicine deal. But then we'll squirt a little more in, and applaud more. eventually you'll be able to say something like, "Hey! You took most of the 1/2 tsp of medicine! You only have a little bit left. Good job - let's do this last one and then we'll be all done until after dinner." Do the last part and applaud like mad. By the next day it's usually easier to get medicine in - partly because she's feeling better by then and, I think, partly because it's not so bad, and partly because of the applause for partial success[defining success as getting the medicine into the sick kid, not getting the kid to like it].

The tricky part is neither I, nor my kid are usually at our best when she is sick, which makes this stuff that much harder.

[yasmara]

The eye drop trick is awesome - my eye dr taught it to me this year & I can't believe we suffered with trying to hold open eyelids before this.

My kids go back & forth between liking gummy vitamins & crunchy vitamins. Right now my younger son definitely thinks his gummy vitamins are a lot like candy, so we reinforce constantly that they are medicine & keep them where he can't reach them. My husband ate a bunch of vitamins as a kid & had to have his stomach pumped - an experience I would rather not have with this generation!

In the past, I have opted to give my kid an antibiotic shot rather than suffer through 10+ days of oral antibiotics (multiple times a day). I told our pediatrician that we have had very negative experiences with oral medications (screaming, spitting them out, throwing them up, etc.) & the ped. was willing to give my son the shot (well, to tell the nurse to do it!). A minute or to of screaming (and the lovely experience of holding my kid down) and then it was DONE.

My older son has minor sensory issues (much like I do) and actually chose to get a flu shot rather than inhale the flu-mist last year.

Hang in there & as other people are said, ask for alternatives to the liquids. They may exist!

[caramama]

My daughter is like @vanessa's and wants medicine all the time, so I've not had the same problem.

But we have to give my cat medicine every single evening for the last 5 years and for the rest of his life. We used to mix the liquid medicine with gravy, so I'm wondering if you could mix a kid's meds with something thicker and more flavorful than just juice.

Once we found out that they could do the cat's meds in a treat form, flavored like fish, we were in heaven and haven't had a problem since. @Monica mentions a chewable antibiotic, so maybe that would work for kids?

One last thought... You know how that last chapter of Nurture Shock said that if you try to get a kid to stand still, they don't last long; but if you ask them to pretend to be a statue or guard or something, they can go very long? Maybe some similar role play would work?

[Lisa]

Okay, I was scared to post our method (hold 'em down and squirt it in) because I thought I'd be eviscerated! Mean Mommy! But apparently, I'm only as mean as all y'all so. Yay! But I will add that if you blow in their face really hard after you squirt it in, they automatically swallow, so no spitting it back in your face. (Maybe I *am* mean!)

[paola]

YOu have described my 5-5 year old. He has always hated taken medicine orally, and usually ended up vomitting the stuff up.This was definitely not a control thing, unless it started out as one and then morphed. The paracetomol drops I used were really really sweet and so he was able to taste the medicine in milk or whatever. Unfortunately I have never been able to find any paracetomol that isn't so sickly sweet.

I think my son inherited my fear of medicine/doctors etc. I know I was a chicken with injections and medicine as a child and can clearly remember kicking the doctor at around 5 when he as giving me a shot. I was petrified of the dentist until recently and avoided going for decades.

I have resolved this problem with suppositories. At least he can't vomit them up. Sure he generally fights the idea but once they're up, he calms down and there is no aftertaste! Now that he is big, he doesn't mind so much taking cough medicine, and I think we wouldn't have too many problesm with pills becasue of the novelty of being allowed to swallow something as big as a cherry pit, but we haven't had the pleasure yet.

[KatieV]

I was just going to post the blow-in-the-face-after-squirting tip! It really does do the trick. :)

[liz]

Everybody's suggestions here are great, and I have another one: if the medicine CAN be refridgerated, put it in the coldest spot in the fridge.

Cold things are harder to taste and feel soothing.

[mo]

Cathy - cheese, yogurt, ice cream provide as much calcium (I believe) as regular old milk. I remember when my boys weren't drinking as much milk but when we saw the pediatrician for a check up he asked us total all milk-related products too. A small square of cheese is close to a glass of milk (I think). Yogurt in smoothies is GREAT. I read somewhere recently that calcium supplements don't do as well as everyone originally thought. Good luck!

My twin boys LOVE children's Tylenol (it was one of the first words they said) but they weren't big on the antibiotics. We did get the flavored kind the second time we had to give antibiotics and that went so much better. Maybe you can have your son go with you to a pharmacy that offers the flavors and let him pick which flavor he wants. Then he has some control in the process and maybe would be more inclined to take it since he picked it out? Just a thought... I think Target has a gazillion flavors to chose from.

My boys are 5 but I think they were 4 or so the last time we had to give antibiotics. When they fussed about it, we explained that they wouldn't feel better unless they took the medicine. Another trick that worked was to give them the medicine while they were watching their night-time movie (my kids are sooo enthralled during movie time so they kind of do whatever while they are distracted. That's also when I trim their nails.)

[BlueBirdMama]

Wow, thanks you guys! I had no idea there were chewable forms of some of these medicines--that would be a huge help! I'm not terribly optimistic the alternative games/pretend will work, but I will certainly give 'em a shot. But mostly it helps knowing I'm not the only one doing the hold and squirt method and that my kid will get over it eventually (@Lisa, our pediatrician told us yesterday about the blowing in the face thing to prompt swallowing-- so you're not mean, you're offering sound, medically endorsed advice!)

@Cathy, there are plenty of cultures where people don't eat dairy and get plenty of calcium (China, Japan, Korea, etc.). Here's a link to a list of foods, including non-dairy, and their calcium content: http://www.iofbonehealth.org/patients-public/about-osteoporosis/prevention/nutrition/calcium-rich-foods.html. Tofu, almonds, kale, beans, even breads and grains have calcium to offer... you're daughter may not love all those foods, but if you start offering some calcium rich component to every meal (e.g. calcium rich fruit at breakfast, nuts at snack, tofu at lunch, salmon or beans at dinner, etc.) she might be able to get plenty of calcium from non-dairy sources.

Plus, I would feel no compunction whatsoever about offering any dairy she does happen to like (pudding cups? ice cream? mac & cheese?) more often than you otherwise might. If you're already doing this, maybe she's just fine-- has she had a blood test that shows an actual deficiency? I hate it when a doctor urges you to take a supplement when there is no evidence that you (or in this case, your child) actually has a deficiency of the nutrient the supplement is supposed to address.

That being said, I've also heard that as far as bone health goes, calcium ain't all it's cracked up to be-- American women, who have been supplementing calcium for ages now, still get more hip fractures than Japanese women who don't eat dairy and don't supplement but do eat a more balanced diet in terms of fruit and veg... apparently, a balanced diet and exercise are more important than loads and loads of calcium.

[Cloud]

@Kate- I'm with you on the pink eye thing. Since I'm in the phase where my youngest sticks her fingers in my eyes while nursing, I'm actually getting pink eye a lot. Those drops sting! And don't really work most times, since its viral. But breastmilk... ah, now that doesn't hurt at all and clears the problem right up. Magic. But probably not worth lactating forever to have access to.

So our doc gave us the same "aim for the corner of the closed eye" trick and that's what we do.

On the oral meds, I have nothing, because my older daughter is another one of those freakish medicine lovers, and our problem is more figuring out when something actually hurts (as opposed to her wanting some tylenol because she likes it).

My only suggestion is to try asking your son how he'd solve the problem. Our daughter is also 3, and SOMETIMES this works. Other times, it just produces really funny answers, which at least break the tension a bit.

[electriclady]

My daughter doesn't mind the taste of Motrin or Tylenol but HATED the bubble-gum flavored amoxicillin she had to take last year for a sinus infection. 10 days, and was it 3 or 4 times a day? I can't remember, it was so traumatic. After getting it spat back at me for 2 days, here's what I finally did (bearing in mind that she was just barely 2 years old at the time, so a lot more tractable than a 3 year old): Mix medicine with applesauce. Plant child in front of TV, preferably something junky and frenetic that she rarely gets to watch and is thus mesmerizing. Shovel spiked applesauce into child while she sits zombie-like and slack-jawed in front of TV.

If I was trying it now with a 3-year-old I might sweeten the deal by making it some crazy extra-flavored applesauce or maybe one of those neon-colored kids' yogurts that she's never allowed to have under other circumstances.

[Mary]

@Cathy, my son hates milk and cheese, and only drinks water. Our ped recommended giving a chewable fruit-flavored antacid for calcium. Works like a charm.

[Dawn]

Not much to add, but the medicine my daughter takes for croup (orapred) is available as a chewable and she doesn't seem to mind the flavor, so maybe that would be preferable to the liquid?

[akeeyu]

"I'm sorry, you have to take this."

Milbarge has to take medications on and off, usually for long periods. Our approach is kind of a non approach.

No games, no cajoling, no tricks, no discussion, just this is what we're doing, period. If she doesn't want to take it, I put her on the sofa, leaning just slightly back on the cushions, and hold her arms if neccessary. If she tries to spit, I just use the baby syringe and put a few drops in at a time, because it's hard to spit medicine out without a good mouthful.

Lest you think this works because Milbarge is an easy or cooperative child, haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahaha, no. She has the resolution of a rock, a stunning gift for being oppositional, and an absolute truckload of sensory and other issues, especially with her mouth.

The reason this works with her is that by making it a boring non issue, I'm giving her absolutely no feedback, and Milbarge loooooves feedback, even negative feedback, especially negative feedback when she's being stubborn.

Obviously this won't work with every child, but then, nothing really works for every child.

[T]

My son is much younger - only 20 months - but we give him medicine on a very small spoon with either applesauce or some fruit puree or ice cream. The key is to put the good tasting stuff on the tip of the spoon so that it goes in their mouth first. He hated having the syringe in his mouth and despised me giving him medicine until I tried this. It seems to work for now, although I realize that with older ones it is simply the knowledge that the medicine is there.

[amom]

My 3.5 year old son is also in the "loves medicine" camp. But what he does hate is the saline nasal spray we use for colds. After trying all the tricks I could think of, I finally had success using empathy. The convo went something like this:

Son: No, no, no! I don't like the nose spray! (Screamed while bucking his head every which way)

Me: I understand. You don't like the nose spray.

Son. No, I DON"T!

Me: You don't like the way it feels when it sprays inside your nose. I don't like that feeling either. It makes my nose tickle. When I spray it in my nose, I make sure it goes on the side, so it doesn't tickle very much.

Son: Well, I still don't like it.

Me: I understand. You just don't like it at all.

One minute passes...

Son: Well, I guess I could try it if you just do one spray on each side. Could you just do one spray on each side?

Me: Sure. Let's try.

I about peed my pants. He took it like a champ.

[CrazyMama]

I worked as a pediatric nurse before my current role of SAHM. There are lots of good, useful suggestions here but I think asking for the pill form of the med may work, too. 3 year olds barely chew their food as it is and they are capable of swallowing a small pill-break it in two if you have to. Have the kid put the pill in his mouth and then drink through a straw. Mostly they concentrate on the straw and the med goes down. Or put a small amount of yogurt with the pill in their mouth then drink from straw.

Good luck! And really, any way you're getting the medicine in is a good way!

[Clare]

I heartily second the chewable tablet idea, and teaching him to swallow pills. If it has to be in a liquid form, ask the pharmacist if s/he can give you a special insert for the bottle neck, and a dispensing syringe. You stick the syringe in the insert, turn the bottle upside down and pull down the plunger to fill it. (Like filling a needle for injection, only the dispensing thingie is not sharp.) Perhaps letting him fill the dispenser will encourage him to take the medicine more easily?

I am matter of fact when my kids need medicine. This is what you're taking, this is when you're taking it. Do you want to push the plunger down, or should I? I find the more choices I offer, the more they try to negotiate, which is fine sometimes, but not so much with the medicine.

[MrsHaley]

We have a 3.5 y/o who is also medicine-averse. We do shots at every chance, chewables when they're available and pills if I can empty the capsules or crush them and not compromise effectiveness. I add crushed pills to the most sinful, viscous things I can find -- often that Philly brand ready-made cheesecake filling ON A SPOON. FROM THE TUB. Also sometimes ready-made cake frosting.

If there is no other option than liquid, I read this technique somewhere (Dr. Sears? Maybe?) and it has worked for us so far:

Prepare 2 identical cups of dark-colored, strongly-flavored, very fresh & fizzy soda. We use root beer or cherry vanilla Dr. Pepper. Mix 1 dose of the medicine in one of the cups and refrigerate both until they are SUPER cold. Prepare another dose of medicine in the normal dosing apparatus. Present the child with the regular medicine and say something like, "You need to take this medicine but when you swallow it you can have this (forbidden, exotic) cup of soda." If the child balks at taking the medicine and washing it down with soda, then say, "Well, here's some soda anyway. Thanks for thinking about it." and give them the already-spiked cup of soda.

You do end up wasting a dose, but we've never run out doing it this way. Soda has become a special treat when she's sick and more often than not she chooses to take the medicine straight and wash it down, which means I use the spiked cup as a choice for the next dose.

[HereWeGoAJen]

For my one and a half year old, I'd stick the little syringe thing through a hole in a ruler and then spin the ruler around while I stuck it in her mouth. She would be interested enough in the ruler spinning that she'd barely notice the medicine. I don't imagine that would work long for a three year old, but it might give you a couple of doses and if you can get enough of these little ideas, maybe you can get through the whole course of the medicine without too much pain. Something different every time might be the trick.

[ML]

@Cathy: Vit D comes in a flavorless, colorless drop (400ml/each literal drop) I found at Whole Foods. I put a drop on the first bite my kids have at dinner.

I struggle with the medicine thing with my daughter (who loves water but doesn't like OJ and is indifferent to milk)--she needs iron supplements, which taste AWFUL. (My DS never had to take supplements, except for Vit D, LOVED baby Tylenol and Motrin.) I pinch her cheeks and hold her down while she's on the changing table. Thanks for the blowing trick, though--I'm going to try that since she never gets the full dose swallowed.

[Shelby]

ds (2.75) has allergies, so we do allegra every evening around bedtime. It was bad in a spoon, so I've found the medicine dispenser you can find in the grocery store very effective and also easier to see how much he is getting. It is like a tube with a spoon like thing on the end, very inexpensive. Plus medicines that come in not chewables, but medicines that come in fast dissolving pills that you don't even have to chew. I do a combo of "this is what we are doing, period" and telling stories. For medicines that he says don't taste good, I say, "okay take a sip of juice or milk after". For putting on bandaids he doesn't want on, we do, but "Elmo or insert name here wears them. They look so cute" He doesn't like the doctor, but fortunately he doesn't have to go often. I'll probably role play before then.

[janel]

I don't have any advice to add...However, I thought I'd throw in an anecdote since you mentioned your son had been hospitalized. My son was hospitalized overnight as well, about 7 months ago (shortly before his 3rd birthday). In that 24 hour period he went from being very anxious around doctors to thinking that being checked by a doctor was fun. When I mentioned this to his pediatrician during a post-hospital follow up, he said that he has found that small children go one of two ways after being hospitalized: either they start to think doctors are really groovy, or they're more afraid of them than ever.

Don't know if this has anything at all to do with what's going on with your son, but just thought I'd mention it in case it gives you any insight into what's going on.

[the milliner]

@Kate & @Cloud, regarding the pink eye drops...our family doctor told us that the cream version of the drops sting less than the liquid drops, so this is what he prescribes for us. If you haven't tried the cream version yet, might be an option.

@amom, my DS goes through periods too of hating the saline drops for his nose.

I just muscle through (and this also works for medicine when DS doesn't want to take it - which is rare) while telling DS that I'm sorry he has to take this, but that it will make him feel better soon.

So, I lie him down on the BF pillow in the rocking chair (he's 2, so yes, his legs spill over the sides). I tuck his arm closest to me around my back. And then I cradle his head with the arm on that side. This keeps his head still and leaves the other arm free for the drops / medicine. It also makes it harder for him to squirm, but is soft since I'm not using my hands to restrain him. Surprisingly effective. And, if absolutely need be, I use my 'free' arm to hold him in place across the hips.

With the saline drops, just do it as fast as possible, then suck out the snot as fast as possible. For the medicine, always just make sure to do consecutive smaller amounts aimed at the cheek. I've only had disaster with this method when I tried to give him too much medicine at once.

Now if I could only figure out how to clip his toenails. It's really hard to do that when he's squirming! For some reason the in-front-of-the-TV trick that works for cutting finger nails doesn't work.

[Cloud]

@Cathy- I second the vitamin D drop suggestion. It is literally one drop, and you can get 400 mg (for babies) or 2000 mg (for older kids- just dose every other day- and adults). You can put it on or in anything. Carlson's is the brand name, I think.

Vitamin D is essential for calcium absorption, which is why we think of it linked to calcium. The mechanism for this is well known (I even studied one of the vitamin D-dependent proteins in grad school!) But it is also linked to immune function. The mechanism for this is less well known, but there are some studies out there on it. I did a post on a recent study when it came out: http://wandsci.blogspot.com/2010/03/mechanism-for-effects-of-vitamin-d-on.html

Since we all slather on the sunscreen and spend a lot of time inside, a lot of people are vitamin D deficient. You can get tested if you want to know if you are deficient.

Anyway, our pediatrician is a big vitamin D booster for immune function, and we're all taking it now. The baby gets a drop in her bottle (day care days) or on me before she nurses.

Also, if you're wanting a multivitamin, have you tried gummy vitamins?

[Mama Fuss]

I guess I've been lucky that every medicine my 2.5 yr old has had to take has been flavored? My pharmacy automatically does it for antibiotics for kids under 5 unless you request otherwise (they ask you the first time and then just leave it in the patient's file) and so my kid LOVES her medicine. If she finds a bottle of Tylenol/Motrin whatever, she asks for some, whether she is sick or not. She asks for more when I give her her small dose. I hope this doesn't mean she'll be a future druggie...

[Awesome Mom]

I wish I could help but my eldest who does have to take a life long medicine is a champ at taking it. His main medicine is in pill form so before he could swallow a pill we would grind it up and mix it with yogurt. Maybe that will help hide the taste better. Now he will swallow the pill whole with out water, I can't even manage that!

[Dana]

My 6 year old learned that this subject can be one of those "be careful what you ask for" kind of deals. He is incredibly, horribly bad at liquid medications - always has been. So when he needed amox. this spring, I put him in charge of asking the doctor for alternatives since it's one thing to wrestle a 3 year old and another thing altogether to medicate an uncooperative 6 year old. She offered him chewable antibiotics and he accepted the deal on the spot (I had never heard of them...so happy...except...) The 6 year old quickly discovered that chewable amox. is NOT like chewable tylenol and does not taste like candy. It is vile. On the other hand, you can't gag it up like a liquid medicine. On suggestion from my mother, wedged each pill into a marshmallow. It doesn't really mask the taste, but the treat factor on whole marshmallows was too much for him to pass up. Still stressful, but no liquids to deal with and I knew that he got the whole dose.

I learned some great ideas from this post! School starts in two weeks so it's just a matter of time before I get to try them out?

[Allison]

I dont have any kids, but I've spent a lot of time giving medicine to owls. They're small enough to physically restrain, but they can sure put up a fight! :)

[SM]

CHOCOLATE PUDDING! Sorry, but I feel a need to scream that since it's been a revelation to us. It's not something we would normally introduce to our daughter but it does the trick when we really need it to. It's such a strong flavor that it really masks the medicine. We tried everything else our doctor recommended: honey, applesauce, sugar, juice. Then we saw a different doctor when ours was unavailable and she suggested chocolate pudding. It's magic!

[Mitch]

At that age if I had to fight, I fought. It is different now thank goodness but then, if the medicine was important, then I did whatever was necessary (per my sister-in-law with 3 older kids than me). Sometimes we do know better and they don't get choices. Thats parenting. Fight me for 2 minutes and end that friggin all night cough!
www.gaynycdad.com

[Camilla]

I had (it faded in the last few years) an aversion to cherry flavor (such as in medicines and koolaid) so strong that a whiff would make me gag, and an attempt to swallow it would make me vomit.

I don't remember how it happened, but I suspect the pediatric dentist who was in the habit of being clumsy around my gag reflex managed to give me a flavored fluoride treatment then make me vomit, once too often.

So I'd wonder if the kids who vomit every time they're given medicine have managed to form a flavor association like I had, which really isn't something someone can control on a conscious level. (Repeated uneventful exposures will cure it, but that's tough to arrange if the mere smell makes you gag.)

[Mrs. CPA]

When my son had MRSA, after 6 days of hospital IV medicine, they sent us home with MORE medicine that was in a capsule. The nurse told us it was nasty and to sprinkle it in chocolate syrup or pancake syrup. I tried it with the first dose, and the amount of chocolate syrup it would take to mask the taste would choke a horse. So we taught him how to take the capsule. Lots of medicines will come in a small enough dose for a three year old to take.
We sat him on the counter, poured several pills in our hand and let him pick one (even though they were all the same), gave him a drink, made him open his mouth really wide and then put it on the back of his tongue and he took an immediate drink. 99/100 he swallowed it on the first try. And then he got some smarties. And we jumped around and acted like he was the best thing ever. He's had some reoccurrances of MRSA, and the pill swallowing has come in very handy.
It can't hurt to ask if the medicine comes in a pill form.
For Tylenol, we have to practically beg though.

[Lynnette]

No help here, as my 1-year-old is a freak that loves to take medicine, but I'll agree with Moxie that Penguins of Madagascar is worth the DVR space. Not that Baby Girl watches it- I do that when she's asleep. I also love Chowder. Call me juvenile.

[Sharon @proactiveparenting]

I haven't read the other posts- a wild day in my life. Things will settle down soon, they will settle down soon, that's my chant these days and I'll save that for another post! LOL! Two things.

1. When I was 3 or 4 I hated taking medicine. So my family made a big deal out of saying, it tastes really good. I believed them and came to like the taste of baby aspirin. So much so that I ate an entire bottle of the stuff and had to be rushed to the hospital to have my stomach pumped. I HATE to throw up even now! That experience has caused me to be against making medicine taste like anything other than medicine, but that's me and that's why.

2. I'm of the mind, probably because of the same experience that you tell the child the truth and add some power. Someone may have mentioned this, but I didn't read any of the other posts, my bad, can barely keep my eyes open. I always told my children, you HAVE to have it, that's not negotiable. But you do get to choose when to have it. Is it on one, two or three? IF you don't choose then I will have to choose.

Have you ever asked him why he hates to take medicine so badly? It may be because in his mind if he takes medicine, he may think he's headed back to the hospital?
It might be worth asking him if that's what's going on???

[Christine]

They can formulate medication into a cat treat, so I imagine if you get to the right pharmacy (a real compounding pharmacy, not a regular one that just adds the flavoring) you could get it in a more palatable form.

[Schwa de Vivre]

We don't do a lot of medicine for the 2.5 year old here, but when we do, we do matter of fact. We also offer him an option: you can drink it "by self" or we can squirt it in your mouth. Agency is a big thing for my kid, so that helps.

RE: Vitamins: DS was taking a liquid vitamin at one point, that he stopped liking and refused to take any longer (when I had a few bottles stocked up, naturally). We wound up using Nordic Berries, which are expensive but yummy, and were the only ones in the vitamin store with what looked like appropriate doses.

Another vote for the liquid D. Carlson makes them, they're cheap ($11 for a year's supply?), and they really do taste like nothing. 1 drop in a drink, on a spoon, on food, on your/your kid's tongue does the trick.

RE: medicine flavors: Check with the pharmacist. Some flavors do not mix well with some medicines, while other flavors are great matches. The pharmacist should know what the good and bad matches are. If they don't know, go elsewhere.

It seems we should be able to give medicine in a little package, doesn't it? Like the liquid inside some kinds of bubble gum, except you wouldn't chew it, just swallow? Maybe I'm thinking of this because that's how my dog would do it: encase the pill in liverworst or canned dog food, and she'd just swallow it whole. Maybe using some kind of an injector (like they sell at Thanksgiving for turkeys) and, say, a marshmallow? And when you weren't making medicine bombs with it -- homemade Twinkies!

Just a thought.

[Schwa de Vivre]

RE: medicine bombs: several mini marshmallows might work . . . .

[akeeyu]

Almost forgot:

With Fitz-Hume, we always tell her why she's taking something. She's not quite such a trooper with medicine, so when we give her something, we tell her why.

"Okay, time for Motrin."
(backs away, shaking her head)
"This will make your teeth feel better*. Open, please."
(considers, takes meds)

*I swear, that kid has been teething for the last 95 years. Gah.

[paola]

Wow this post has been a real eye-opener!!What chewable antibiotics? Pharmacies that can adapt medicines to patients tastes?? Ok, maybe my kids have just not been sick that often and so I don't realise that these options exist here already, but truthfully? The Italian pharmaceutical industry just isn't liberalized enough. Hell, they have only started selling paracetamol in supermarkets and a pharmacist has to actually serve you.

Sometimes I feel I live on the moon.

Oh and yeah, the ointment antibiotic for bacterial conjunctivitus has less of a squirm effect than the drops.