getting kids to take nasty medicine?

[sparks19]

Ok after DD's doctors appt yesterday she got some stool softener.

The problem? it's HORRID. it is seriously the worst medicine I've ever tasted lol and nothing seems to block out the taste. it's like cherry cough syrup and black licorice with a butt after taste.

I tried mixing it with juice... no go. tried adding extra sugar to the juice... no go.

I can't force it down her throat because.... she's a puker :rofl1: if she gags... it's over. I'm really not up to cleaning up cherry coughsyrup/licorice/butt vomit LOL

what can I do to hide the taste of this stuff? I have to give her 3 tsp a day I tried putting in just one tsp... I can still taste it. she hasn't tried it yet so we'll see

but I'm really at a loss here. I'm considering calling the doc and saying "Listen... there's no way I'm going to get her to choke this down" LOL

I can't even take it myself and FAKE like it's good ... it's THAT bad lol

 

[leahsmom0813]

I tried the same tricks add to juice, milk but she would still taste it and refused to drink it or would spit it out. My brother suggested adding it to her yogurt drink and it worked like a charm. Seriously this is the smartest thing he's ever said, lol. Try the Danimals smoothies.

 

[scrapquitler]

Ok after DD's doctors appt yesterday she got some stool softener.

The problem? it's HORRID. it is seriously the worst medicine I've ever tasted lol and nothing seems to block out the taste. it's like cherry cough syrup and black licorice with a butt after taste.

I tried mixing it with juice... no go. tried adding extra sugar to the juice... no go.

I can't force it down her throat because.... she's a puker :rofl1: if she gags... it's over. I'm really not up to cleaning up cherry coughsyrup/licorice/butt vomit LOL

what can I do to hide the taste of this stuff? I have to give her 3 tsp a day I tried putting in just one tsp... I can still taste it. she hasn't tried it yet so we'll see

but I'm really at a loss here. I'm considering calling the doc and saying "Listen... there's no way I'm going to get her to choke this down" LOL

I can't even take it myself and FAKE like it's good ... it's THAT bad lol

Can you mix it with something like pudding or applesauce?

Another idea is to talk to the pharmacist. They can likely add a flavoring to it to make it more palatable. Our pharmacy advertises that they can add "30 different flavors" to liquid medicine, but it is a little misleading: they actually have a book and they look up the medication then tell you which flavors they can use with that particular medication (I guess that otherwise there would be chemical reactions), and you can choose from among the options. One time my DD was on a medication, and had a choice of 3 or 4 different flavors. She said it helped, but didn't totally mask the nasty taste of the medication.

Finally, a third idea: does the medication come in a pill form? It might be easier to just teach your daughter to take it as a pill. (Use the mini-m&ms to practice).

 

[aidtrismommy]

How old is your child? Do not mix with juice because you can't guarantee she will get the full dose and she probably won't once she tastes how nasty it is. I always tell my children when it is time to take medicine that it is not a choice, but they can choose whatever they want to drink as soon as they take the medicine. Even if they choose soda, let them. Let your child know up front that it may taste yucky, but they still need to swallow it. If your child can drink out of a cup, ask them if they want to hold the medicine cup themselves? do they want you to hold the cup for them? (just offer choices, my son likes the medicine cup spoon thingy best) Praise them for swallowing and don't pretend it isn't disgusting; validate their feelings. If that doesn't work, I would put it in a medicine dropper, squeeze it into the side of their mouth sort of against their cheek. I dont like this method the best because it may invlove restraining the child, liklihood of spitting it out, and it is generally just messy, plus kids lose all sense of control. Bottom line, it is not a discussion, give them choices, and praise. If nothing works, call the pedi.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

DD has a particularly hard time with medicines that taste bad. If the medicine isn't too horrific, I can bribe her with a piece of chocolate to get the taste out of her mouth, but I have had to call and ask for an alternative medication. DD would be thrilled to swallow a pill if that was an option in the particular medicine, but at 8, it usually isn't.

If all else fails, "a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down..."

 

[Disneygal27]

as a child I remember vividly having this nasty chalky medicine I had to take, and I was in a similar situation as your DD where I physically couldn't control the gagging/sickness. my mom tried mixing it in things, but i could still taste it regardless. call the doc and see if there is a pill or chewable tablet available. my mom ended up crushing a chewable, mixing it in applesauce, and giving me lots of water after each small bite. took a good few minutes to "take" my medicine, but at least I got it. She's also had to call my ped before and switch meds to something i could take, because the undeniable truth is some kids just can't handle taking certain meds. good luck with finding a solution!

 

[sparks19]

How old is your child? Do not mix with juice because you can't guarantee she will get the full dose and she probably won't once she tastes how nasty it is. I always tell my children when it is time to take medicine that it is not a choice, but they can choose whatever they want to drink as soon as they take the medicine. Even if they choose soda, let them. Let your child know up front that it may taste yucky, but they still need to swallow it. If your child can drink out of a cup, ask them if they want to hold the medicine cup themselves? do they want you to hold the cup for them? (just offer choices, my son likes the medicine cup spoon thingy best) Praise them for swallowing and don't pretend it isn't disgusting; validate their feelings. If that doesn't work, I would put it in a medicine dropper, squeeze it into the side of their mouth sort of against their cheek. I dont like this method the best because it may invlove restraining the child, liklihood of spitting it out, and it is generally just messy, plus kids lose all sense of control. Bottom line, it is not a discussion, give them choices, and praise. If nothing works, call the pedi.

It's not a matter of making her take it or not. she will take it and swallow it if I tell her too. the problem is ... if she gags (and she will... from previous experience with yucky tasting medicine) she WILL throw up. She's got a very sensitive gag reflex. even a cough can result in her bringing up her lunch. She's a puker.

She will take it but she won't be able to control it if it comes back up.

The PP who mentioned yogurt. that's a great idea and I'm going to try that. The amount she gets is not so important. as long as she gets most of it.

if I can't get it into her I'm going to call the doc tomorrow and see if we can switch to something else... I THINK it comes in pill form but I'm not certain on that. will check with the doc

 

[ckrum]

Is it Colace? We had the same problem. I'm sorry to say that nothing made it taste better or go down easier. That is why we switched to Miralax. It is a "powder" that mixes into any drink/food and has no flavor.

Good luck!

 

[sparks19]

Is it Colace? We had the same problem. I'm sorry to say that nothing made it taste better or go down easier. That is why we switched to Miralax. It is a "powder" that mixes into any drink/food and has no flavor.

Good luck!

DING DING DING lol we have a winner. It is Colace and yeah. GROSS. it's the worst medicine I've ever tasted in my life LOL

 

[DisneyCrazyMomma]

If she is willing to take it, maybe have her use a straw. The straw can be closer to the back of her mouth and then she won't taste it as much... and hopefully won't get sick from the taste it. I don't know, just another idea. Good luck!

 

[WantToGoNow]

Good luck. We tried everything with ds10 when he was 4-5 and never found any of the stool softeners that he would take. He ended up in the hospital overnight with a tube down his nose to his stomach and they cleaned him out. Since then, he eats as much popcorn as we can get him to (they said 2 cups a day) and he has stayed fairly regular.

Also limit the amount of milk she is consuming as that will aide in the constipation.

 

[sparks19]

If she is willing to take it, maybe have her use a straw. The straw can be closer to the back of her mouth and then she won't taste it as much... and hopefully won't get sick from the taste it. I don't know, just another idea. Good luck!

It's worth a shot

Good luck. We tried everything with ds10 when he was 4-5 and never found any of the stool softeners that he would take. He ended up in the hospital overnight with a tube down his nose to his stomach and they cleaned him out. Since then, he eats as much popcorn as we can get him to (they said 2 cups a day) and he has stayed fairly regular.

Also limit the amount of milk she is consuming as that will aide in the constipation.

Yeah hubby is going to pick up some almond milk on his way home tonight so hopefully we can phase out most of the milk.

I called the doc and left a message with the nurse. I told her that I was wondering if there was something different we could try because this medicine tastes extremely bad. she said "is it the colace? yeah that is one of the worst tasting medicines" LOL well it's good to know that NOW

So the doc will give me a call with another prescription (probably tomorrow since it's 6 pm here)

 

[scrapquitler]

DING DING DING lol we have a winner. It is Colace and yeah. GROSS. it's the worst medicine I've ever tasted in my life LOL

Colace definitely comes in a pill. I administer it to someone where I work. Maybe you can get your child to swallow it and the dosage will work for her.
http://www.drugs.com/imprints.php?action=search&drugname=colace

 

[GrtWtNorth]

If she is willing to take it, maybe have her use a straw. The straw can be closer to the back of her mouth and then she won't taste it as much.

Similar to the straw idea, our pharmacist gave us a syringe, which made it very easy for me to squirt the weird stuff down the back of her throat, avoiding the taste-buds on the tongue as much as possible. I also encouraged DD to have a chaser of milk or juice after every "shot".

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

Mix it with chocolate syrup or chase it with a spoonful of chocolate syrup. My boys swear by it.

 

[sparks19]

well... I made her take a tsp. with sips of almond milk between. she ALMOST lost it. but she did good. she got a bunch of M&M's for a treat.

BUT... I'm supposed to give her 3 tsp a day every single day for at least a month (and possibly longer depending on need). I'm not going to force her to choke this down every single day.

so I've called the doc and left a message to see if we can find something a little more palatable

 

[MSSANDRA]

Honestly, I would just take it upon myself to try the mirlax. I know he is the dr, but sometimes moms have to do what works for them. mirlax has been a God-send for us. Mix in any drink and they never know the difference. We had some of the same issues your child had. Now we rarely have to use it. A whole does was oked for our then three year old but most of the time 1/2 worked fine.

I have had two kids that would gag. It's really not a discipline issue, just a fact!

 

[sparks19]

I didn't know you could get miralax without a prescription lol or I would have just went and gotten it on my own

I have a feeling the doc is going to tell me to try that anyway.

 

[MSSANDRA]

Yep....over the counter and even generic is available now. I like the name brand better though.

 

[grafxgirl]

I just tell my kids to take it really quickly then I have a drink of some kind as a chaser to help with the after taste.