Helping the Medicine Go Down
One of the biggest challenges of having sick children is convincing them to take their medicine.
Cherylyn Feierabend
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Helping the Medicine Go Down
Hey there! You’re listening to the Mighty Mommy with some quick and dirty tips for practical parenting.
I’m happy to report that I’m living in an illness-free house this week. We have suffered through more sicknesses this year than ever before. One of the biggest challenges of having sick children is convincing them to take their medicine.
Before giving your children any type of medicine, please be sure to check with your family doctor or pediatrician. I am not able to provide any type of medical advice, but I would like to offer some tips to help you keep things running smoothly when you need to give medicine to your child.
Most recently, my daughter was diagnosed with strep throat. She had a fever of over 104 and was not exceptionally willing to eat anything or take her medicine. The doctor prescribed an antibiotic which needed to be taken with food. She was also taking a fever-reducer and decongestant. A four-year-old is such a tiny person to be taking all of these medicines, but I needed to make sure she had everything she needed. It was quite the learning experience for me because she’d never been this sick before.
My first tip is to follow the instructions given by your medical professional. If you try to give a child an antibiotic that needs to be taken with food, you need to get some food into the child first. If you don’t, you may find that the dose you give doesn’t stay in the child long. A couple of crackers or a few bites of toast to cushion the stomach will make a huge difference. A child’s stomach isn’t very big, so you don’t need to give her a full meal, but get some food in there before you give the medicine. If your doctor advised you to purchase an over-the-counter medication and you don’t know or remember the exact dosage to administer, contact the doctor and find out for sure. If it’s after hours, you can check with your pharmacist. The pharmacist will have the exact dosages recommended depending on your child’s weight. Most often, prescriptions are given based on the weight of the child, not the age.
So, now you have the medicine and you are ready to give it to your child, but she’s not as willing to take it as you’d like. That’s not a big surprise. Medicine rarely tastes good and taking it repeatedly certainly isn’t enjoyable. If your child is already feeling sick, drinking something nasty probably isn’t on her current to-do list. If you are going to be filling a prescription for one of those unpleasant tasting medications and your child is generally good at taking the over-the-counter bubble-gum-flavored type of medicines, you may consider asking the pharmacist to add a flavor to the prescribed liquid. Almost all pharmacies offer this option for just a few dollars.
If you know your child is better at taking chewable medications, ask your doctor if a chewable version is available. When my daughter was younger, it was very difficult to keep a liquid in her mouth. She would spit it out almost every time. I contacted my doctor to let her know the situation and she gave me another prescription for chewable and it saved the day. Chewables can usually be put back in if they’ve been spit out and they don’t make a sticky mess.
When it comes to a child who is simply uncooperative, explain that taking the medicine will help her feel better faster. The sooner she feels better, the sooner she can run, jump, and play. You may even want to throw in an award for getting better. My daughter was looking forward to a trip to the zoo once she was healthy. This encouraged her to take her medicine with less resistance.
If it becomes a battle, you may want to enlist some help. Stay patient and positive. If you feel yourself becoming frustrated or angry, take five minutes to calm down or defer the medicine giving to another adult if one is available. It can be difficult to keep your emotions under control when your baby is sick. Do your best to keep a cool head and remember that you are doing what is best for your child. If you find that you absolutely cannot do it on your own, please contact your doctor’s office and let them know the situation. The doctor may have suggestions or alternatives that can help you.
Finally, make sure that when you are sick, you take your medicine and do as you are instructed by the doctor as well. Let your child know that you only take medicine when the doctor instructs you to and that you want to feel better so you are taking care of yourself just like you take care of her when she’s sick.
That’s it for now. I hope you’ve enjoyed the show. Thank you for listening.
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Sick Boy image courtesy of Shutterstock