The 411: a spoonful of sugar or tying your kid down?
Fuller is over his illness. He was diagnosed with non-strep tonsillitis, which was really making him miserable. Once we got him on antibiotics he started to feel and act better over night. It was great to hear him ask for specific foods and drinks. And to see him interact with something other than the television was equally refreshing.
When Fuller was still feverish and in pain, we were dosing him with Tylenol and ibuprofen, as recommended by the nurse at our pediatrician’s office. We gave Fuller his doses via a syringe. During other boughts of illness, when Fuller needed some medicine, he would gleefully take the syringe from us and plunge the medicine into his mouth quickly. He liked taking medicine and we felt really blessed.
And then he got this tonsillitis. Fuller didn’t want anything in his mouth except juice or water. It didn’t make sense to me that he would fuss and struggle when we approached him with the syringe, because that too was a liquid. But fuss and cry he did. And it became a fight to get the berry blast of Tylenol into his mouth and not on his shirt and/ or the new sofa.
I know that there are plenty of parents who struggle with getting their kids to take medicine, and until a week ago, I wasn’t one of them. The internet is full of helpful advice, as always.
This interesting site, Taking Children Seriously, offers an answer to the question, “Is Hiding Medicine In Your Child’s Food Wrong?” My immediate answer would be no, and the folks at TCS say the same. They also offer the suggestion of discussing the reasons why the child won’t take his or her medicine. Does it taste yucky? Does the child think it will harm them?
All interesting points, but something I have a hard time discussing with a two year old who’s sentences begin with random words and end up in vocalization of Fuller-eze.
The folks at Keep Kids Healthy offer suggestions like making sure the medicine does taste good or using a dropper or syringe to squirt it into the child’s cheeks. The nurse at our pediatrician’s office suggested this when we had to give Fuller vitamins at a few weeks old. But he was able to suck it out, which is his natural instinct.
Dr. Sears advises against calling medicine candy (we don’t even call gummy vitamins candy, even though it can be hard to tell them apart). He also gives great suggestion on how to help kids take a pill that they might not be able to swallow:
Children have great difficulty swallowing tablets. Buttering the pill or burying it in a spoonful of jam helps it to slide down more easily. If that doesn’t work try this: Instead of following the natural tendency and tipping the head back to swallow a pill, have your child bend her head forward. Place the pill near the tip of her tongue. Have your child bend her head forward so that the chin touches the chest. As she swallows, she should lift her head up quickly. The pill will rise to the top of the water (toward the back of the tongue) and wash down easily with the swallow.
Once Fuller started feeling better, he was eager once again to give himself his medicine when we offered it to him. That makes me happy that this illness hasn’t scarred him for life.
How do you get your kids to take their medicine?
medicine for children, taking medicine, medicine techniques
