OT - help DS take yuckky medicine???

[Andrea_loves_Disney]

OK, I know this is way off topic, but I need help. My DS7 needs to take some liquid medicine (2 t, 3x day) and he wanted it flavored grape (at the pharmacy) so that's what we got. Well, guess what...he took one teeny taste and said it was horrible...proceed to throw a huge fit...and after we finally mixed it with some real grape juice (hoping to make it taste better) he ended up throwing up the medicine plus everything else he had to eat for dinner. Poor thing, he got so worked up - it was just awful. FYI, he is not really sick sick, but he may have a skin infection (cellulitis) and the Dr. wants him to take the antibiotic just to be safe... I am not in favor of taking antibiotics frivolously, but he has had cellulitis once before, and it can be pretty serious. Soooo.... any suggestions for helping the medicine go down (a la Mary Poppins) ???

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

Squirt it in the back of his throat and hold his muzzle shut until he swallows. Oh wait, that's how I got Bentley to take his heartworm medicine this morning.

Have you tried the spoonful of sugar? No, I'm serious! Brown sugar works better than white because of the molasses-like taste. Also, squirting the liquid (using a syringe or a dropper) into the backside of the mouth bypasses a lot of the tastebuds on the tongue. It may not taste so bad if you try it that way.

Good luck! My DS learned to swallow pills at an early age b/c he detests liquid medicine so much.

 

[Ali]

Well, I have made meds cold to kill the worst of the taste, and the nurse told me to squeeze the syringe into the side of my son's mouth to get it in better, but other than that I can't tell you anyhting other than explaining why he has to take it and standing firm about taking it. Also, adding chocolate syrup is something the nurses have told me many times. My DS has to take 3 meds a day and we have an arsenal of syringes to make it easier. Spoons don't work as well.

Good luck

 

[tonilea]

You might try mixing it with 7up. I can certainly sympathize. DS refuses any oral medicine and will puke it right back on you if you try to force him to take it. I never imagined I would have a kid I couldn't medicate. All meds are either injections or suppositories. Rarely, I can hide it in soda.

 

[Heather543]

I've also heard about chocolate syrup or mixing it with a spoonful of fruit preserves that come in a jar.

 

[ashely612]

What medicine is it? As a pharmacist I can tell you that some medications (especially Cleocin) can't be flavored sufficiently even with the professional flavoring we offer. However, it could have been a poor job flavoring. Most medications can be reflavored something else by having the pharmacist call the flavoring company and getting the "recipe". It's worth a try if he will be taking it that often.

 

[bbmommy]

I would also check with the pharmacy to make sure it was flavored correctly, but my doctor has suggested using sugar with it to help. Good luck, I know how hard it is with a 4 and 2 year old, I am sure as they get older it gets harder.

 

[fakereadhed]

Maybe he could try swallowing a pill? I would ask your peds what size the pill would be first. Sometimes those antibiotics can be huge. My oldest started taking pills because she hated the taste of medicine. We had her practice by swallowing red hot candies and water.

My wish for the future is that all kids meds comes in those thin strips that dissolve on their tongue- those things are great and they stick to the roof of their mouth and they can't spit them out.

 

[All American]

Here are a couple of things that I have done with my 3-year-old who would get croup so often, she just got tired of taking the medicine:

1. I let give her the little cup and let her take it at her pace.
2. Giving her favorite stuffed animal "medicine" too.
3. Most recently, we do the "yucky medicine" dance. This came about when we were both sick and sick of medicine. I demonstrated by doing whatever kind of feet stomping, silly face making, and arm waving dance I could think of as I take the medicine. She cracks up, takes her medicine, and while she takes it, we do the "yucky medicine" dance.

Good luck with it. It can be so hard with sick kiddos. . .

 

[Andrea_loves_Disney]

What medicine is it? As a pharmacist I can tell you that some medications (especially Cleocin) can't be flavored sufficiently even with the professional flavoring we offer. However, it could have been a poor job flavoring. Most medications can be reflavored something else by having the pharmacist call the flavoring company and getting the "recipe". It's worth a try if he will be taking it that often.

Yep, it's Cleocin. My pharmacist suggested leaving it unflavored (we have 2 bottles we still have to pick up to finish the dosage) and then mixing it with something, juice or whatever. It smells bad too, which makes it even worse.

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions.. I might try the chocolate syrup or sugar... I might try the syringe but he seems to have such a sensitive gag reflex...I'm afraid "shooting" it down my cause it to come back up again!

I finally got him to keep 1 1/2 t down this evening. Can't believe we have to start all over again in the morning! Wish me luck!

 

[HaleyB]

If it will not hurt it, get it really cold. That helps some.

Hold his nose (or have him).

Try honey, cold honey is best as it is thicker. Don't mix it, have him get the honey all over his tongue. The theory is it coats the tongue and so blocks the yucky flavor.

Good luck. And teach him to swallow pills, I taught my kids with Tic Tacs.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

My DS has had to take some really nasty medicine in his little life (one of them had the consistency of vegetable oil ). We would find that even things that tasted okay he would make himself throw up just to have control (like tylenol). Anyway, I tried giving him choices: which one do you want first? Do you want it in one of these (syringe) or a cup? What do you want to drink with it? That helped considerably. But we had to mix prednisolone with chocolate syrup, that was the only way he could stomach it. Chocolate pudding helps some kids, too.

 

[mamaloya]

OK, I always say, "a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, the medicine go down." Oh wait, maybe that wasn't me.

But it does work. I never tried the brown sugar, I may have to. What I do is put the med in a medicine cup and the put the sugar in a measuring spoon. I tell him/her that when I put the sugar into the med that they have to drink it really fast before the sugar settles or it will be yucky. If they chug it while the sugar is still floating, the sugar will coat their tongue and it helps that they are doing it really fast. I also shout, "CHUG CHUG CHUG" fraternity style. They think it is funny.

I love the "yucky medicine dance" though. I will have to add that to my arsenal as well. Lucky for me, my kids don't get sick very often and no one has taken antibiotics in well over 2 years. Knock on wood.

 

[EpcotGuy]

As an ER nurse I have become quite adept at shoving liquid medications down kid's throats. If they are squirmers too, you just wrap them in a sheet and make a burrito...lol Chocolate syrup actually works very well, it kills the taste of just about anything. I also recommend teaching them how to take pills very early in life. Pills never need refrigeration, etc. Applesauce, pudding and yogurt also work. And if it was my kid, and they worked themselved up into a frenzy where the barfed the med up, let me just say.... they wouldn't do it again!

 

[EpcotGuy]

duplicate

 

[PrincessBelle23]

oh gosh, this brings back terrible memories for me! Until I was probably 14 my mom had to dump meds in the back of my throat while I closed my eyes and blocked my nose! ick!

What if you tried explaining to him how you understand how miserable it is but that he has to be a big boy and do it to keep him healthy?

With the girl I babysit her mother always uses "you can't do it because it's just for big girls" technique - would this work on your DS?

Another thing I was thinking was getting a similar looking bottle and some grape juice (or something that looks the same as what he's taking) and taking it with him, letting him think your Dr. wants you to make sure you won't get it either. Maybe knowing mommy has to go through it too can get him through it?

Good luck!!

 

[Hannathy]

At 7 I would definitely call the pharmacy and switch it to pills. Liquid meds just taste disgusting! and he is old enough and do you really want to mess with liquid that long?

For the time being have him suck on some ice for several minutes before taking so his tongue is good and cold and have the med real cold and use one of the syringe things so he can shoot it down the back of his throat and miss most of the taste buds. Also let him do it himself, kids like that sense of control(actually most people)

 

[WildGrits]

I too say get pill form instead.

I mean have you ever tried that flavored stuff. It's down right nasty.

If you have to do the liquid, try a straw. If you place the straw across the whole length of the tongue, you can bypass the tastebuds.

Then a nice caramel to wash it down afterwards.

 

[AdventureGuru]

I volunteer on a pediatric floor and saw the neatest thing! A nurse put the liquid medicine in a syringe and gave the child a glass of similar tasting juice with a straw...
As she squirted the syringe into the childs mouth while the child drank thru the straw...
It was pretty cool...and it worked.
HTH

 

[Princess Stitch]

I can sympathize with your poor DS. When I was younger I could never handle those grape chewable tylenol pills. My parents had to literally bribe me to get me to take them.. and then hope they'd stay down! I do remember getting alot of McDonalds out of the deal though!

Anyhow, when I found out the option was available I was more than happy to learn how to swallow pills to get away from the nasty chewable stuff. I started when I was 6 years old. Hopefully this is an option for the meds your DS is taking.