We had to take Elena to the doctor because of a stubborn cough that had lasted for three weeks. She wasn't feeling too poorly, there was no fever, no shortness of breath, or anything else than that stubborn little cough. As it turns out, she has what they call an "asthma event", which is a one time type of thing. Whatever bacteria has caused the cough is causing an asthma like reaction in her lungs and we need to take care of it before it does become serious. She did an amazingly wonderful job at the doctor's office. Maybe because she's been going to each and everyone of my appointments she has gotten used to seeing the checkup being done so often that she was very comfortable with everything the doctor needed to do.
We left the doctor's office to go get her prescriptions. We are so blessed and grateful that she hasn't needed much antibiotics or other medications throughout her short life, but it is still not fun at all when she does need them. We told her what a good job she had done with the doctor and encourage her to keep up the good attitude at the time of taking her medicine. Immediately after getting home I made her a little chart with squares for each time she needs to take medicine every day. I made it in colors and drew little flowers on it and then we explained that each time she took her medicine without a fuss she'd get a happy face in the square and at the end of the day she'd get as many "skittles" as happy faces she'd got.
Long story short, everything was going great until the first 2 mls of antibiotic were in my hand ready to give to her. She began crying, covering her mouth with both hands and screaming that she didn't want candy anyway. A couple hours later, two doses of antibiotics lost, serious discipline and correction sessions and a very early nap time so as to allow us all to calm down I was at a loss. We have to do this three times for the next five days... I don't want to bribe her but I don't want to fight her every single time. How do we do this? Any words of wisdom out there?
We left the doctor's office to go get her prescriptions. We are so blessed and grateful that she hasn't needed much antibiotics or other medications throughout her short life, but it is still not fun at all when she does need them. We told her what a good job she had done with the doctor and encourage her to keep up the good attitude at the time of taking her medicine. Immediately after getting home I made her a little chart with squares for each time she needs to take medicine every day. I made it in colors and drew little flowers on it and then we explained that each time she took her medicine without a fuss she'd get a happy face in the square and at the end of the day she'd get as many "skittles" as happy faces she'd got.
Long story short, everything was going great until the first 2 mls of antibiotic were in my hand ready to give to her. She began crying, covering her mouth with both hands and screaming that she didn't want candy anyway. A couple hours later, two doses of antibiotics lost, serious discipline and correction sessions and a very early nap time so as to allow us all to calm down I was at a loss. We have to do this three times for the next five days... I don't want to bribe her but I don't want to fight her every single time. How do we do this? Any words of wisdom out there?
5 comments:
Put it in with a very small cup of juice or milk. Or pudding, it always worked for my children and they never knew it was in there unless they saw us put it in there. Only exception would be if it says DO Not take with food or drink. HOpe this helps.
Oh dear...if you could have been a fly on the wall when we were trying to give Jon medicine as a young one. We tried hiding it in foods, "corrections", bribery and the like. I wore more medicine than went down his throat, I think. It was more than a little frustrating, for sure. We resorted to the syringe and headlock method... :>) If you squirt the medicine far enough back they have to swallow and can't spit it out. Unpleasant, but effective. With Daniel we have him drink a little medicine, then a little water, medicine, water. Little sips until the medicine is gone. I have heard that chocolate ice cream is an effective medicine hider, but it never worked for us, and once they taste the medicine it's all over and you have no idea how much they've gotten. I'll be praying for you guys....xo
Hiya!
We would praise them profusely for every little sip they took, and pray hard for patience for every tsp they would spit out and then the cycle starts again being firm but ready to praise. No negotiating successful here. It tastes too bad. Mom and Dad know best! That's just the way it is! :) The syringe in the way back pocket of the cheek is my suggestion. Seems to go down faster that way.
Sorry you are having a hard time with the medicine. I don't know if the pharmacist can add flavor to the kind of medicine she is getting. They have about 15 different flavors you can choose from to help with the taste. But, as the other mom's said, if they continue to fight you, the best way is to use a syringe and as quick as possible squirt it into the back of the cheek with their head tilted back so that they pretty much have to swallow it. It isn't much fun and at her age it is hard for them to completely understand why she has to take it. I know my mom used to mix medicine with pancake syrup or something really sweet. Hope you find a reasonable solution that helps.
When I was working in Peds, I we always said that there were two kinds of kids.
#1 child takes meds with no problem (of course the promise of a popsicle usually made it go down better!)
#2 child does not like meds- at all! Depending on the size of the child, do variations on a headlock. Try to have hands controlled also. Tip their head back. Squirt the medicine into the back of their throat. Sometimes they still manage to spit some, but usually most of it goes down.
I hope that she becomes the first kind for you!
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