Advice on Giving Daily Allergy Meds to 2-1/2 y.o.

My older son will NEVER take vitamins or meds without a fight! We try to put everything in his juice and not let him see it go in--works like a charm! Best of luck!

Put it into something....anything she likes.Oatmeal,a little juice,even make small ice pops;whatever you know she likes and will take.As long as she finishes it all she is getting the dose needed.
Necessity is the mother of invention!Sometimes we need to get creative to outsmart little people who seem smarter than we are sometimes!LOL!
I am a mom of 7 and a grandma of 7!IMPROVISE!!

H., congratulations!!! It was nice to know about your little smart girl and about you. As a child I remember to have difficult to swallow pills. I guess I gave my mom a lot of ways to dribble me. Her sttrugle stop when she envolved me in the decision. I don't remember what she said to me. I remember she put one pill in the warm water ( because we are warm) and let me see the pill to dissolve. Than she put the medicine there and let me take the decison to take it or not. When the decision became mine I overcome my own fear and I start to took my medicine. She just put it out easy for me to take it and she gave me time and space. I did some charm around but I took the medicine as long as I needed. Up to now I don't like pills that is big in size. Very seldon I need any medicine. But we live in a world that sometimes we need medicine, even vitamins to help us out. Your daughter is smart enough to see your tricks, and the trick is to make her part of the decision. Prepare her to take her decision. She will take the medicine. My love to her and wishes of success to you success to you.
P.S. I was older, but not much older than your daughter when this happened to me. She is only 2-1/2s but intelligent. She lives with adults and already she didn't like to be treated as a baby . To do anything to force her now will give you relieve. But she will face lots of future effects.

my son has the same problem i learned a little trick if its in liquid form mix it in with her juice and if its in pill form crush it up and put it in applesause or some flavored snack. now my son has no problem taking meds because half the time he doesn't know hes taking them.

H.,
As a pediatric nurse, I not only hear this request often, I have to administer meds to kids who do not want to take them. And yes, they have to.
So I first recommend a syringe type medicine device. It is easier to draw it up and less likely to spill. If there is wailing and flailing as it sounds like that might be the case, either wrap her up in a towel to keep her from moving all around and then hold her head in your elbow like you are cuddling her and put the syringe in the side of her cheek and squirt little bits in so she won't choke. This is a matter of will and because she needs the medicine, you need to win.
Offer her a drink of water or juice after ward.
I will also tell you when my daughter was little she was on lots of meds because of asthma and allergies. It was not easy to get her to take her medicine either and my husband was in the Navy so I had to learn to do it alone. Not fun but necessary. Good Luck.
M.

Dear H.,

I am so sorry to hear about your daughter's condition. May I ask why she is on allergy mediacation at age 2 1/2?
To be honest with you medications do not solve the underlying problems.They miss the root cause of the disease. Our bodies are very smart. Her little body might be intuitively refusing to take that allergy medication. The other problem is that if we do not look for the underlying issue and fix it, down the road it can lead to a series of other major problems. Take your time to research the topic of allergies.There are so many resources on the net now.
All the best!

C.

hey H.,

what is she allergic to?

Hi, Does your pediatrician agree that she should be taking this medicine every day? For how long? Are there side effects from long-term use?

If, it is necessary and approved of, there is something called the Flavor X System which you can ask your pharmacist about. There are a variety of flavors that they now can add to most medications in the pharmacy. Of course, my grandchildren have taken perscription medications this way.
If you cannot find a Westchester provider, there is one in Rockland County. It is called the Diabetic & Perscription Ctr, 321 Rt 59, Tallman, NY ###-###-#### Good luck, BW

H.,

My son is 2.5 and takes Claritin every day. He used to take singulair too but we discontinued that and is only taking the Claritin now. It is grape flavor. Ask the pharmacist if they can give it in chewable form they think it's candy or add flavor x in grape or cherry or orange or whatever flavor your child likes. With my son we withhold his milk or a Tv show until he takes the medicine. We tell him he can watch his show after he finishes his medicine or he can drink his bottle after he takes his medicine. We also put the medicine down on the table and let him have the control of walking up to it when he finally agrees. When they feel they have the control they are more cooperative. They think okay I am going to walk up to it drink it and then I will get what I want. So it is a win-win situation. They win because they get their treat and you win because they take their medicine. Good luck!!

P.S. Please read this website about SINGULAIR:

http://www.medications.com/se/singulair/allergy

R.

When my sons won't take meds we mix up a very little bit of chocolate milk and put it in there. You just have to make sure she drinks all of it in one sitting. (This is per the pharmacist, the pediatrician AND an urgent care doctor.)

I know exactly what you are going through. My two oldest children are on Zyrtec and have been for a few years now. They both have allergies to the environment, I found out this winter that it does not matter what season it is. lol My son who is now 6 takes it well, but my 5 year old daughter has been refusing all meds since she was 3. We do mix it with her bedtime snack drink, sometimes it is juice and other times it is flavored milk. At other times we have done the whole wrap her up thing. You would think she would be use to taking by now, but I guess not. lol Good Luck!!! I just wanted to let you know that you are not alone with this.

when i have to give my daughter meds, i always give them at bedtime or nap time (depending on how often and when she NEEDS them) but it's easier, for me at least, to do this when she's in her crib. if she doesn't take them willingly, i lay her down, hand her the bottle, squeeze her cheeks, and just squeeze the medicine dropper giving the meds to her. sometimes (rarely though) she WILL fight this, and will choke, but it seems that she only chokes from getting upset because it's done the same way every day (i have to do this w/ the vitamins mostly!)...once i'm done giving her her meds/vitamins, i just calmly ignore the coughing/choking and remind her to wash it down with her bottle, and she INSTANTLY STOPS her coughing/choking (this is why i assume that it's choking from being upset over having to take it). good luck, hope it helps some. oh, i notice that she's 2 1/2, she's about 1/2 yr older than my daughter, so if she's not on a bottle at all, just give her the sippy cup...sometimes if it's during the day (and i've forgotten to give it to her while in the crib) that's what i use, she doesn't get the bottle out of the crib (oh so close to no bottle at all...can't wait til it's gone). again, good luck.

is it an inhaler?IF so, you have to explain to her why it is good for her and let her choose the time she will take it...now or before your snack , for example.

H.,
I am a home comsultant and teach people how to get allergy triggers out of their home. People do not realize how many chemicals are lurking under the kitchen sink and throughout the house. I have helped a child with asthma go from using an inhaler weekly to only using it 2x's in the past 7 months. I would be glad to help.
E.
____@____.com

I feel your pain...my 13 year old still takes medicine worse then our dog!!! Now, she has a medicine she takes EVERY DAY so we have gotten very creative! We open the capsule and sprinkle it over yoplait yogurt. We have done Zyrtec before...we had the liquid form...(first of all she must take all her doses or you will start at the beginning)...try putting it IN something like apple juice, pudding, oatmeal whatever she likes. Just to give you a little extra advice: when she needs to take a chewable...stick in in a piece of bread and have her chew it all together! Remember your only purpose is to get that medicine into her body! Good luck! (You may also remind her that the antibiotics do come in "shot" form if she would prefere that method)

Just Say No To Drugs!

Figure out why she has sooo many allergies. Is is laundry detergent (I use Ivory powder) or fabric softener (I use Downey's white sensitive), or dryer sheets (I threw mine away)? Or is her immune system damaged/hypersensitive/in overdrive because she received sooo many shots before her immune system & liver developed (6 mos.)? The medical textbooks say the liver isn't developed until 6 months, so what do we expect starting vaccines before then? I might nurse for 6 months then begin the shots in moderate doses (hint: because no one should be fighting 10 diseases at any one time , especially not a baby). I would ask God.

Hi H.-
Did you speak to your pediatrician about allergy medicine? If your daughter has a post-nasal drip, you should try saline nose drops or sprays. It is natural and does not have any side effects. Zyrtec seems like a strong solution a 2 1/2 year old.

I didn't think Zyrtek was safe for toddlers...what's she allergic to? You might want to check out this link:
http://www.mercola.com/2002/nov/9/zyrtec.htm

It is a liquid? If so put the correct amount in a small amount of whatever drink she likes and make sure she finishes every last drop.

A.

H.,
If they are liquids, I will tell you the method I read some where and have used on my boys when they were smaller. If you are right-handed, have your daughter on your left (sitting on a counter or on a chair while you are squatting beside it) and wrap your left arm around her, holding her right arm with your body and her left arm with your left hand. Then use your right hand to put the medicine in her mouth. If you put the dropper to the side and towards the back she shouldn't be able to spit it out as easy.

If this doesn't work for you, can you put it in something with flavor (but only a little bit so that you know she is getting all of her med.)?

Good luck!

K.

Can you put in applesauce, juice etc.. Maybe that could work.