5 Tips to help your Child take their medicine or antibiotic

Help to have your child take their medicine, 5 tips, medicine, how to get your toddler to take their antibiotic

Help your child take their medicine! My kids have all had chronic ear infections and I have had to learn some tricks to make the process of them taking their medicine possible and a lot less painful. With cold season already upon us this comes to the surface more often than I like! My oldest is particularly picky because he has some major texture and food sensitivities so there have been moments when we’ve both wanted to cry over medicine or antibiotics that are needing to be taken. If you are like me you have had those moments of the medicine spit right back at you or even thrown up. I remember calling my doctor in a panic because the antibiotic only stayed down for a few minutes before being thrown up and I didn’t have any left! Been there? Well, here are a few tips I have learned along the way:

1. Make a fishy face:

Not you, them. Ha! If you pinch your child’s face into a “fishy face” it is actually harder for them to spit out. This is assuming of course that you have the medicine in a syringe and you are squirting in down their throat. Another tip with this one is to try to squirt it in from the side of the cheek down the throat so they aren’t tasting it too much.

2. Flavor your medicine:

This applies more specifically to antibiotics are some are better tasting than others. I have found a really good way to “mask” the flavor is by adding powdered drink flavoring right into the dose of antibiotic. You could use crystal light flavoring or kool aid mix…whatever you have on hand.

3. Mix it in something they already like:

This one can be tricky as you want to make sure that they eat/drink all of whatever it is that you are mixing it into. That is why I prefer to just mix in the powder. But I have had a friend who mixed in a capri sun and had success with that. You could also try yogurt, applesauce, juice, or milk. You might want to do a taste test to see if they will go for it with just a small amount before mixing it all in.

4. Hold ’em down or make ’em giggle:

Depending on the temperament of your child one of these may fit the situation better than the other. For my daughter, she really loosens up when I make her laugh and then is more willing to take the medicine. For my son, I will often times have to wrestle with him a little bit to even let him see that the medicine isn’t THAT bad and he will survive taking it.

**One technique that we apply to both food and medicine is the touch, lick, taste, nibble, bite approach. This idea is an idea I received from someone who had their son in food therapy which this gives the child “baby steps” to actually trying the food/medicine and can be extremely helpful. Sometimes with medicine this can backfire if he decides he hates it or sometimes it makes him realize it is really no big deal.

5. Try different flavors:

We all have different likes for flavors with candy and food, so why not try different flavors of medicine too? I have tried the different flavors with my kids and they definitely have preferences when it comes to whether the medicine is berry or bubble gum flavored and recently came across a chocolate flavored cough medicine!

Why does the taste matter? According to Dr. Cocoa’s new national Harris survey of U.S. parents of school-aged children (ages 4-13), almost 40% of parents said it isn’t easy to give their children over-the-counter liquid cough/cold medicines, with one third of parents believing the taste of the medicine impacted how easy it was to give their child the recommended dose.  Dr. Cocoa™ for Children was developed with its real chocolate flavor just for this reason.

My kids love anything chocolate so I am surprised that this is the first time someone has come up with this idea as a flavor! Dr. Cocoa™ products combine trusted, effective ingredients with 10% real cocoa for a real chocolate taste.  Dr. Cocoa’s soothing, real-cocoa formula was developed to improve dosing compliance among children – it triggers a smile, not a struggle.
Dr. Cocoa™ can help me to fight the cold and not my child. BONUS. 🙂

dr cocoa for children

Dr. Cocoa products are available nationwide at stores, as well as online.  For more information about Dr. Cocoa™, including where to buy, visit www.drcocoa.com. You can also use a coupon from their website to save $2! You can connect with Dr. Cocoa on Facebook too!

dr cocoa owlEnter for your chance to win a Dr. Cocoa puppet giveaway!

dr cocoa giveaway

Dr. Cocoa products are FDA regulated medicines and should be used only as directed and kept safely out of reach of children.

I hope these tips have been helpful for you! Please share with me what tips have worked for you…we have yet to get to the method of getting our children to swallow pills!

Visit www.drcocoa.com for a $2-off coupon offer.

This is a product-provided, sponsored conversation that contains affiliate links. However, all opinions, text and experiences are my own.

camille walker, mymommystyle.com

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    Hello! I am Camille, a wife, mother of four, Disney obsessed, certified teacher, and reality optimist. Motherhood comes with its ups and downs, and I hope while you're here you'll find something that makes your #momlife easier!

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