What Can I Hide Medication In?

If it's more of a control issue with a liquid med (he doesn't want you putting a spoon or syringe in his mouth) - we have used the little measuring tubes that the pharmacy gives you for free. I will let my little ones hold it and drink it - yes, even the two-year-old. I think at this age, they want to control a bit of what happens in their life, and so allowing him to have the tube to drink on his own is good, as long as he is not flinging it around and drinks it all.

We also have a pharmacy now that doesn't add flavor to the med. If I know it's a liquid kid med, I go to Walmart, where they will even ask the kid what kind of flavor to add! Makes it easier if they feel some control that way as well.

2 moms found this helpful

How about chocolate flavored Pediasure? I used this trick just this week...

I have a two year old that sometimes refuses to do things. If I were you I would bribe him to take it. Is there something he loves to do, watch or eat? My son decided that he didn't want to brush his teeth anymore. Now after he brushes his teeth he gets a "treat". The treat is really a mint that is good for your teeth but he doesn't know that.

I was in the same boat u are with my 2 yr old a couple weeks ago.We put it in her juice.She was having to take something like 3ml twice a day and because she was still drinking juice we split the dosage down to 1ml per cup of juice (about 8 oz) and if she still needed more then one dose by bedtime then we would just put whatever she still needed in her milk.She became very needy for that cup at bedtime again while she was sick even tho she hasn't wanted it for bed in nearly a year except for on rare occasions when she asks for a little water.But being so sick I just went with it to make life smoother for us.Even the Dr in the ER put her first dose in juice for her cuz she didn't want her leaving without any in her system since we ended up in there at 10pm and all pharmacys are closed.

Good luck mama and I hope ur lil guy is feeling like himself soon.

Can it be smashed? How about peanut butter or brown sugar?

Put it in his juice. Make it really sweet this time only.

Good luck.

We went through a couple of years of ear infections for both of our girls. So, some of the hidden foods were: applesauce, chocolate pudding, yogurt and juice... but the BIG WINNER... was the chocolate syrup!! lol Yes, I know, but they had a chewable tab and they hated it, so I crushed it on a spoon and put about a tsp of choch sauce over, mixed with a tooth pick and they ate it up w/out complaints! The yogurt definitely seemed 2nd best, they loved the strawberry/banana yoplait. :) If it's a true problem, I would suggest asking for a chewable tablet and you could crush it (between 2 spoons) and mix it in pudding/apple sauce. Also, you can request (at Walgreens) to have a flavor added to the medicine if you do it before they make it. Ours usually liked the grape or cherry flavor. Eventually, they got used to it, due to the high exposures, and I would offer a lolly pop if they took it! :) lol Had to do whatever worked. Good luck!

my 2 year old son did the same thing. double ear infection and ran away from the medication every time! spit it out, slapped it out of my hand - it was horrible. I tried everything and that stuff was SO terrible (amoxicillin) that you could definitely taste it in everything. Finally, we tried raspberry yogurt. He ate that! It had a strong enough flavor to MOSTLY disguise the medicine, was still pink so he thought nothing of the color and it worked for about 5 days before he just got sick of yogurt twice a day! Good luck!

Hi Karina:

I don't know if this will work for your son but it did with mine who just turned 3. We would put his antibiotics in a sippy cup and then dump some yogurt juice in (Danimals). He just thought he was drinking his yogurt and we did not have to fight so much with getting him to take the medicine.

J.

Use an medicine dropper (eye dropper for meds) and squeeze it in his mouth in his cheek area. Follow with a glass of water or juice. Either that or mix it with applesauce, it's a great vehicle for administering meds. It's important that he take the entire prescription and that he gets it on time to get the most benefits. I wish him well and you, peace.

When they put my daughter on Prednizone the pediatrician suggested hiding it in chocolate milk because it is a very nasty tasting medicine. I would suggest trying that, it worked for her

My daughter refuses to take meds. She has had 4 ear infections and every time, it is a struggle to get the antibiotics in her.

Finally, this last time, my mother-in-law offered her a candy if she swallowed her meds. After two or three times of this, she actually started asking to take her medicine so that she could get a candy.

Up until we figured this out, I would have to pin her down, plug her nose and squirt the medicine into her throat. It was terrible for both of us, but it was more important to me to get the medicine in her than it was worth trying to find a food to put it in.

Good luck!

Has he ever had an IV? If so, talk to him and tell him that if he doesn't take the medicine from mommy and stays sick, the DR will have to give him an IV.
I have also used the "OK it's going in your butt then" and wonders never cease they open their mouth!

sorry he is sick :( no fun.. we have been there with really srong antbotics too.. The problem we were having when we put it in something we were not sure if she was getting it all.. b/c she would figure out that it tasted different.. Our dr. suggested using a baby syringe (sp) and we my husband and I would give it together.. little drops at a time.. point towards the cheek.. (the pharmacy gives them free the spoons didn't work for us) also if you think he has spit out alot of doeses call the fr. b/c you don't want to not give the full amount of medicine..
L.

applesauce covered with a smattering of chocolate chips and whipped cream. Or applesauce with a face floating on top made up of banana slices (eyes) banana end (nose) and raisins for a smile. The sweet stuff hides most of the bitter taste.

Applesauce worked great for me, also you might try ice cream

This is a tough one, K. - and I'd sit back and think it through--

He HAS to have the medicine--- my first thought is talk to the pharmacist--- can the flavor be changed to something more palatable?

You might decide to say ''' Doctor SAYS - swallow - then you can have some ----------x------- but swallow medicine FIRST'''' ( practice a really '''drop dead robot who means business"" voice-- not mean- just totally 100% without emotion.

Make sure the medicine is as cold as it is safe to be- as that will '''hide''' the flavor ---( and cold medicine has less smell- and children are warned by the smell that something they don't like is coming)

Also share your concern with your pediatricians nurse- they may have a great idea -

Blessings,
J.

Sugar will help. I am not a big fan of it, but sometimes you just have to do what you have to do...
If he won't take regular sugar from a spoon, make a simple syrup (cook equal parts water and sugar) and strongly flavor with his favorite flavoring and mix with his meds. Just don't pour it in the medication bottle, that messes up the concentration. Measure his dose and then mix with some syrup or serve on sugar.

Good luck.

If your child can have peanut butter, you hide medications in it pretty well by mixing it up thoroughly and it masks the taste and texture well. If your son cannot have peanut butter, I have also used chocolate pudding which my kids all love and so far none of them have noticed anything "extra" I have put in. All my kids hate taking medicine, and not one of them have noticed the trick yet. Good luck!

When my son had problems taking medicine, I felt like I'd tried everything. We went to stay with my mom, and she got him to take it using frosting. I think it's sugary enough to really cut through the bad aftertaste some medicines have. He would take about 1/3 of the medicine, then eat some frosting off of a spoon, then sip some water--repeat.

Hope you find something that works!
W.

When it's HAVE TO HAVE TO....

- Chocolate syrup
- Karo Syrup

If it's liquid, mix it at about 2:1, if it's a pill (which can be a LOT easier, because they don't have a lot of extra flavors layered over the initial bad taste), crush it up and do about 5:1.

One trick we would do with one of the liquid meds was to make a hot chocolate baba, heavy on the chocolate, and THEN add his medicine in and shake it. (Heat isn't good for some meds, makes no difference on others, so we play it safe and don't heat the medicine with the milk & chocolate, but add it when it's at about 105-110 degrees...aka slightly warmer then luke warm, but not hot.) On the few rare times when this failed, we used the chocolate syrup straight. My mum always uses Karo syrup, and my SIL's children hate chocolate, so that's what she uses, too.

No, neither of these are particularly "good" for you, BUT...
a) They're sick their and immune system could use the calories anyway &
b) It's better to have a "spoonful of sugar...helps the medicine go down", then to lose braincells from high fever/be unable to sleep/unable to breathe/or to die. At least that's my opinion.

:) Z

Our pharmacist (Walgreens) added cherry flavoring to our son's antibiotics and he swallowed it down w/out a peep. It was free flavoring month at Walgreens - but it usually costs $2 extra - well worth it.

K.,

Try taking the medication to your local Target store and see if they will put flavoring in it. I don't know if they still do it or not, but for awhile they would add a flavor for free when they filled an Rx for us. They have a list of like 20 flavors to choose from.

Hope this helps,
M.

Instead of putting it in the ice cream, let him have the ice cream to wash the flavor out of his mouth, or what ever his favorite sweet is.