Are You Trying to Get Your Kid to Take Medicine? Certain Tips

It might be difficult to convince your child to take medicine when they are ill. And it’s extremely harder to try and undo a negative experience. It’s crucial that your child has a positive experience when taking medication, whether it’s a short-term antibiotic for a bacterial infection or a longer-term drug treatment for something more serious.

Some Tips to Ensure Your Child Can Benefit from Taking His or Her Medicine

Locate A Nice Environment

Where you provide medications can have a significant impact on how comfortable your child is taking them. Find out where and how your child prefers to take their medication before you begin. Which would they prefer: a snuggle after being on your knee, a seat on the couch, or a cuddle with their favorite teddy in bed?

Would they like to consume the medication with a straw, a cup, a syringe, or another method? To ensure that your child takes their medication comfortably, give them some control over how they get it.

Is It Mixable?

The most frequent excuse given by kids for not taking medicine is that they dislike the taste of it. It makes sense considering how unpleasant many medications taste! Always inquire with your doctor if it is OK to mix liquid medications with food or other liquids.

Not all medications can, so you must check, but if you can add a tiny bit of juice, honey, chocolate spread, or another pleasant-tasting substance, it may be easier for them to take on their own.

Avoid The Taste Buds

You may need to try something else if liquid medicine cannot be mixed with food or beverages in order to avoid irritating the taste buds. You can try slowly injecting the medication with a syringe into your child’s cheek because the majority of our taste buds are located at the rear of the tongue.

This makes it taste better and makes it much more difficult for them to spit it out, ensuring that they receive the full amount. Giving an older child a drink of ice water before giving them the medication will help shock their taste buds and make them less reactive.

Make it a habit

Routines play a crucial role in your child’s life. These help them feel more secure and at ease in their surroundings. If at all possible, try to minimize too much interruption as having to take medications can interfere with their habits and cause some upset.

Instead, you might try incorporating medicine into their everyday routine or making it its own habit. With less resistance, you can ensure that the medication is always taken at the same time. Perhaps before a favorite TV show or activity, giving you something enjoyable to look forward to following.

Offer rewards as well as praise

Even if it took a long time or was tough, always shower your child with love & affection. Also, praise them when they do take their medication. You might employ a reward system to reinforce positive behavior.

Stickers and reward charts, with basic treats after they have accumulated a particular number of stickers, seem to work successfully. It’s a good idea to get them excited about taking it again by getting them to do something enjoyable following a dose.

Outlook

It’s crucial to keep in mind that these techniques will occasionally be effective and occasionally not. Do not give up if that happens; instead, take a rest and try again later. If you genuinely feel that you are seeing no progress in giving medicine, you can visit your doctor again. Also, you can request him a different flavor or type of medication. You can also ask for advice on possible reasons why they may be refusing medications.