By Roy Benaroch, MD
As printed in Around Town Publishing, March 2007
How can I get my child to take medicine without a fight?
Many children refuse to take medicine. They clamp their mouths shut, they struggle, and they spit it back out 5 minutes later! If this reminds you of your child, these tips can help.
Don’t give any medication, vitamin, or supplement that really isn’t necessary. Sometimes, it just isn’t worth the struggle. You don’t want to give your child any extra opportunities to practice fighting! If a medicine is necessary, try to get one medicine that tastes good and is given as infrequently as possible, for the fewest possible doses.
Have children practice taking “medicine” when they’re not sick. During a miserable ear ache, you won’t find kids too receptive to learning a new skill. It’s better to practice when they’re in a good mood. Practice with something really tasty, like chocolate syrup, peanut butter, or cake frosting-or even a little spoonful of cake decorating jimmies. Be creative! Most children will happily lap these things off of a spoon. Once they’re good at that, encourage them to try the same yummy stuff out of a medicine cup or another more “medical” device.
Once a child will take something tasty out of a medicine cup, add that tasty thing to the medicine next time it’s needed. You should make sure with your pharmacist that mixing food into a medicine is OK, but I can’t think of any example where a bit of chocolate syrup mixed into medicine could cause a problem.
Give your child choices if possible: liquid or chewable? From a cup, spoon, or dosing syringe? Some pharmacies can add one of dozens of flavors to any medicine-let your child choose.
Rewards are important. Try: “If you get it down and keep it down, you get seven M&Ms!” A yummy food treat in this case will help get rid of the taste, and counting out seven M&Ms before giving medicine is itself a nice distraction.
Medicine can sometimes be an important part of therapy to keep your children healthy, or to help them get over an illness. Unfortunately, they don’t all taste good, and some kids can become stubborn medicine refusers. You won’t always be able to force children to take needed medicine. It’s better to practice success and help children learn to take medications well on their own.