Getting Son to Take Zoloft!

my friends son started Zoloft liquid at 5 or 6.. yes the liquid tastes bad.. they hid it in everything they could think of and he could still taste it..

after a whiel they switched to the pills and crushed them in applesause or ice cream or pudding..

the pills don't taste like anything.. so he was better at taking pills than horrible liquids..
by the way.. the Zoloft really helped my friends boy... it will take a week or 2 or 3 of getting the full dose in his daily but if it is the right drug you should see an improvement..

I disagree with the Zoloft. When my son was in second grade, years ago, his doctor prescribed it for him because we had tried 3 stimulants that were awful for him. His teacher had me convinced that he had ADHD, so I went through these medicine trials with him, to no avail. The doctor told me that he wanted to try the zoloft instead. He said that sometimes an antidepressant works when there are too many side effects with stimulants. I don't know if they do this anymore or not.

Anyway, my son started rolling on the floor pulling on his legs. I asked him why, and he said he didn't know - he just needed to. I could NOT have my son rolling on the floor pulling on his legs at school - the kids would have made fun of him. I didn't stop it cold turkey - I brought the dosage down before stopping it because I read somewhere that it was important not to stop giving the medicine all at once. That was it.

What I found from this difficult medicinal experience is that my son doesn't have ADHD. The meds didn't work BECAUSE he doesn't have it. Stimulants are SPEED unless you have ADHD. (ADD, whatever they want to call it now.) My son was just being his tempermental self. Third grade brought a new teacher who was wonderful and terrific with him and every kid in that class. What a difference!

Now, I am not talking about your child. I don't know why your doctor has prescribed Zoloft. He's mighty young for that. I am saying that there may be side effects that are hard. I'd really want something other than Zoloft...

Talk to the doctor and/or pharmacist about the flavoring. We can't help with that.

My son likes to give himself his medicine. Instead of giving it to him, as him how he would like to take it. Educate him, because he needs to do this for his health. Have something that tastes really good ready to drink after he takes the medicine. My son will take nasty cough medicine if he has a yogurt drink right after.

If you have to dilute it in a regular glass of the drink and it tastes nasty for the entire glass, no wonder he can't finish it. Somehow there has to be a better way to take it so he can get it over with and drink something that isn't nasty.

Again, ask the doc or pharmacist for alternatives.

I do not know why a psychiatrist would prescribe Zoloft to a 5-year-old boy, and I do not know what exactly your kid has been diagnosed with, but whatever the reasons are this is a very powerful drug even for adults. I would suggest you to take your kid to see another doctor before forcing a child to take this medication. Ask more questions, do your search; it is your child, and many doctors now days are prescribing so many powerful drugs to children, little children.... There is nothing wrong to doubt a doctor, but it is wrong not to find more alternatives for our children. It is not a matter of diabetes or another disease, it is something totally different, and more complex. Please find out more, and read what Doris Day said here.
Good Luck

A. :)

Zoloft tablets are usually small. My five year old son swallows tablets quite easily (all my children complain about 'kids' medicine). Perhaps your son will surprise you if you get him to take a pill instead.

You can try putting it in a syringe, and squirting it behind his back molars. This should bypass most of the taste buds... Maybe let him do it himself, so he feels like he has more control over the situation. (It may take a few syringes though if it has to be diluted...)

Otherwise, maybe you can ask the pharmacist to add a flavor to it? Most pharmacies have a selection of flavors for children's liquid medication to make dosing them easier.

Does it *have* to be lemon-lime soda? I know my dad used to dilute our nasty medicines in jello liquid. He would make the jello like usual, then while it was still a liquid pour a little into a small cup with our medicine in it (then put the rest in the fridge to set as usual.) the jello has such a strong, sweet flavor that it masked pretty much anything.

My special needs kiddo takes some pretty potent (and important) cardiac meds. There is NO way she could swallow the pills. I checked with the pharmacist, and they were able to be diluted in water (some pills/capsules cannot, so be sure to check). I make up a glass of water, and add a few drops of the 'grape' flavor (trial and error brought me to that flavor). I put the pill in a syringe...and draw up the flavored water. I set them in a cup...tip up over nite. Then, in AM...I shake them up...and squirt them in med cups. She takes her 'shots' of meds...and I prepare the nite dose...

lather...rinse...repeat!

Drinking from the med cups gives her a feeling of control (she did not have the dexterity to manage a syringe herself). I also have a plain cup of water ready for her as a chaser.

I wish you the best in finding something that will work for your little one!

Best!

I also used an approach like the burritto one below, except I basically sit on them on the floor...straddle them to hold arms down and squirt the medicine in the mouth. only had to do it 2 x and now if my strong willed kiddo refuses medicine all I have to do is say, well OK I guess I will have to sit on you then, and he takes it on his own. I learned I could not have the power struggle on taking meds when he had pneumonia and I couldn't get him to take meds he badly needed. It had to stop. I did not hurt him but now he knows mommy means business and taking meds is no longer a hour long fight.

I'd give him two choices:
1. He takes it this way, even though he hates the flavor.

2. He learns to swallow pills.

End of story. He gets the choice, but he has to stick with it. Our son started swallowing pills in preschool for his medical conditions, so it's possible. Most of these medications weren't originally designed for kids, so I think it's going to be tough finding much available in chewable or liquid forms.

It's not about him choosing to take it or not. It's about him deciding he doesn't have to do what you say. So what if he doesn't like the flavor. He has to take it for a medical reason. A doc would not have prescribed this med for a 5 year old if they didn't feel it was necessary.

I would poke it in his mouth and make him swallow it. I know, I'm a mean one. I also love using snot suckers....lol.

If you have to dilute it then do it. And sit there until son drinks the whole thing.

If it was me I'd use my kid burrito trick and feed it to them, truly I would do this and the kids know I would follow through because this is what I used to do if they wouldn't blow their nose and I got to use the snot sucker on them.

Since he's older and you haven't done this before you might need some help, strong help.

Take kiddo and play him down on top of a blanket on top of a sturdy dresser. Wrap him up like he's the filling of a tasty burrito. Arms and feet encased, he is still laying down. Then use your left arm to encircle his head and your right are to use for the med/drink. If you have a helper it's their job to maintain the burrito wrap. So that you can hold his head stable and make the kiddo's mouth open.

Using a dropper or syringe you fill it and squirt a few drops into his mouth in the cheek area between the teeth and cheek. He needs to swallow it so gently stroke his throat in a downward motion. Not hard, you don't want to make him hurt. Then refill and do it again.

He's not going to be happy about this but it will get more of the med in him than he's taking now.

What this accomplishes is a double meaning. Kiddo now knows there is worse things in this life besides the flavor of that medication. He now knows he is going to take it regardless.

So what is he going to do after you do this again a couple of time? He's going to suck it up and drink the med in the glass of pop. He's going to figure out that mom and/or dad has the power to actually MAKE him take it.

I only had to say Honey, can you go get the blanket that can completely wrap kiddo up? He won't take his medication this morning and I am not playing this game. Kiddo grabbed the glass and chugged it down. Once they figure out mom and/or dad is not going to let them get away with not taking it they suddenly can do it by themselves.

Talk to the pharmacist and see if there are other options. I'd say there were.

The liquid is 20 mg/mL and the lowest dose in pill form is 25mg. So once he's a bit older/weighs more he should be able to take the pill form.

A therapeutic dose can be as much as 200mg per day in an adult. So it's a small small tiny dose your child is getting. The liquid is mostly alcohol so that's probably what he's tasting. Did you try OJ? That might have a strong enough flavor to cover the med.

BUT a pharmacist is an expert in medication. I trust them to know more about a medication than any doc around.

Chickpea gets her liquid asthma meds via syringe because she won't drink the entire amount from a cup. I fill the syringe, squirt it as far back in her mouth as I can, and then pop a Demerara sugar cube in. She sucks on the cube until the taste of medicine is gone.
Our old pharmacist had wonderful exotic flavorings like watermelon and root beer, but now all we're offered is bubblegum or strawberry.