Medicine and My 3 Year Old

Never mention medicine to her again. Anytime she needs to take something, hide it from her and slip it into something she drinks. She has already built up an anti-medicine mentality so don't make it an issue and don't talk about it, make her think it doesn't exist anymore so she doesn't fight you on this topic. I know there are probably other battles to fight and since this is a non-negotiable one I wouldn't even bring it up to her anymore. I'd hide all meds from her sight, even tylenol. You've got to take back the control because sometimes meds are very important to get a child healthy again.
That's what I would do. It's obviously a power struggle.

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Is it possible that she might be sensitive or allergic to some of the ingredients? It seems like vomiting is a very strong response and one that I'm not sure most three year olds can will themselves to do. There are a lot of other ingredients in those mixtures, so it could be there is something that does not agree with her system. If you can get her to take it hidden in something else you can see if the vomiting reaction is caused by something other than her displeasure at having to take medicine. Good luck!

Have you tried asking the pharmasist to flavor the medicine? Usually cost about a dollar and you can choose from a number of different flavors. its the only way I can get my 3 yr old to take medicine. Of course that is for perscription only.

Another thing you may want to try is a bribe, such as if you take it nicely and dont throw it up you can watch a video or mommy will play your favorite game or something she really likes. I dont particulary like to resort to bribing my daughter but sometimes its the only thing that works!

Dear P.,

Have you tried letting her hold the medicine cup or spoon and doing it herself. My daughter hated takeing medicine. Then I went and got the little cup that comes with nyquil and measured her amount out and then put it in the nyquil cup. I would then hand her the cup and make sure that she had a cup of juice or koolaid to wash it down with. That seemed to take the fight out. My sister has to hide her son's in his juice.
Good Luck!
B.

Is there any way to 'hide' the medicine into a favorite food or snack, or dissolve it into juice or water? I'm typically not a fan of trickery, but if you're desperate and she doesn't realize she is taking medicine in this manner, it might be worth a shot.

I give my almost 4 year old a popsicle after a yucky medication. She will take dimetapp with no problem because it is sweet but things like Robitussin she freaks. So I give her a freeze pop afterwards and it works!

speaking from vast experience I would get the liquid in her drinks. I had to do this with all 3 of my boys who hated medicine. You will have to play around with how much medicine to put in how much juice. Be warned that Biaxin(antibiotic) has a gritty chalky banana flavor to it. I also would use the syringe for medicine if it did nto mix well in juice. This way you can shoot it straight to the back of the throat where they have to swallow. Make sure the tongue is out of the way though or it will come right back out. Also, try applesauce with the medicine in it. They have so many flavored applesauces now. Good Luck!!!

I give all of my children homeopathic remedies, that I can even give to them at night while they are sleeping. I just call them tablets because that is what they are, and they dissolve into their mouths. My kids ask for them even they are not the one who is sick, and I have to explain to them what the tablets are for that I am giving to one of my other children. I like and have used these brands for various illnesses: Hyland's(sinus, coughing, teething, and so on) Boiron(tablets in little blue tubes and cough syrup), and B&T(Boericke and Tafel), for children's cold and flu. I have never had a problem with these, and generally I don't make a big deal about giving them their medicine. If I give cough syrup at night I just use a medicine dropper from liquid herbs for kids, and that makes it really easy.
Hope this helps!