How the Heck to You Get a Stubborn 3-Yr-old to Take Yucky Medicine?

My 4-year-old did the exact same thing for a long time. It used to take me AND my husband holding her down to get the meds in her. Now we have her plug her nose, swallow the medicine (she can't taste it with her nose plugged) and then before she unplugs her nose we give her either a candy or a flavored drink. That way, when she unplugs her nose, all she tastes is the candy/drink. It works like a charm, and she doesn't have any issues at all taking medicine anymore.

put it in chocolate pudding and don't tell them it's in there. i've also added chocolate syrup to antibiotics and told them it's "chocolate medicine". but they are probably responding to all medicine as yucky, so I would try to hide it and not tell them!

I put it in baby rice cereal and then add the medicine and applesauce to disguise the taste. It has worked so far, but my little one is a year younger then yours. Good Luck!

I would ask your pediatrician

with all of my kids, especially when it's nasty tasting, i use a medicine dropper. i have them lie down on the couch, hold their face with one hand, the dropper in the other...squeeze their cheeks and angle the dropper towards the back of their mouth, in the inside of the cheek,so that the medicine goes down their throat...they don't taste much of the medicine and there'll likely be tears,but they'll get over it...i always have a cup of water nearby,so they can wash any of the taste they might have, down and away :) good luck!

When my daughter was a baby, I used to have to get her to cry so she would open her mouth. However, my 4 yr. old son, still will not take medicine to this day. If we ever manage to get anything into him, it comes straight back out. Either by spitting or vomiting. LOL The only was I get fiber med. into him, is by getting the powder that disolves without a taste and add it to his milk. The only other med. I can fool him into taking is Children's Tylenol. The only drink I can put that into so he doesn't taste it, is "Tiki" punch that comes in 2 liter bottles at the supermarket. All this HAS to be done without him seeng it happen! Good Luck M.

Bribes work well sometimes, too, at this age :) Say he can have a sticker or some other small thing he likes if he takes the medicine. Stickers work for our 3-year old.

It must be the taste??
I recently had to give my 3 yr. old daughter antibiotics for 10 days. After a day or two she would remind ME, she liked it so much! She would say I need to have my medicine now (and if was time) I would put it in the syringe and let her squirt it in her mouth by herself. She thought that was great fun! I think it was bubblegum or strawberry flavor. It was pink.

I have an 18 month old little girl. I act like I'm taking the medicine and say yummmy. it works almost every time.

My five year old is the worst and all way has been . No matter what we did it only, work a couple of times. One that work best was it getting it in table or capsule. I would then put it in he’s milk cup, but them he wouldn’t drink it all , so I started putting it in the space left between the spill proofs insert and where it goes in his mouth. Therefore, that he would get most if not all at first. As he got older, we got two of the push dropper and fill one with water and the other with the medicine. After he takes the medicine, he gets to shoot anyone he wants with the water. I have all so found that if it just for a cold the thin strips work great ,at first he would scrap then off on his teeth and wipe them off with his fingers , so watch this , now he take them with water after, so he dose have to have the liquid stuff . Good luck