Medication Trauma

Some things just have to be done no matter how uncomfortable. My daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at 19 months. Believe me, toddlers do NOT enjoy being stuck with needles several times per day.
Here is what you do. Calmly tell them its time for meds, get it done by whatever means possible and give lots of cuddles afterward.

It's hard, but sometimes you just have to do it. He will not be traumatized long term.

Ask the doc if there is an alternative, or if you can get it flavored.If not, mix it.

Something that works with my child, was letting him take the medicine himself. Putting it in the syringe and letting him push it. Letting him know it's yucky and that it would help the Ouch go away. And having his favorite good tasting drink and/or food RIGHT THERE for immediate consumption to get rid of the yuck taste.

Good luck!

We used to have to BOTH hold down DS to clip his toenails!
He's 10, no long term damage to report.
Ask the pharmacy if the can flavor the meds.
Ask the pharmacy for ideas about WHAT it CAN be mixed with (liquids or foods).

Yuck, that stuff is nasty.
No kid wants to take it.

No kid ever wants to take any medicine, though, do they? Heck, I don't like taking medicine either.
You know what would make it worse for me? If my husband called me to the kitchen and said, "open your mouth and take this right now." Or "Open your mouth" and squirted it in without letting me choose how/when to take it.

So give your child the same courtesy. Explain that he has to take it. It isn't an option not to. But, he can hold the cup (or the syringe/dropper) and here is a cup of ___ (his favorite drink or a "special" treat kind of drink) that he can have the instant he has swallowed the medicine. It will help wash away the taste. And then he can have a small snack afterwards if he would like. But, he must take the medicine first. He can hold the cup or you can do it for him while he holds the "chaser". Whichever way he wants. And then wait.

Let him choose. Then let him have a few moments to collect himself and screw up the courage to take the medicine.

I've always done that for my kids and they always managed to get the medicine down. No throwing it up after. No gagging. No refusals. Lots of complaining how nasty it was after the fact. Lots of quick reaches for the chaser. But the medicine always has gone in and stayed there.

It's amazing what a little control can do in a situation like that. Even now, at almost 12, my daughter needs a few moments to drink even a dose of cough medicine. So what? What is 30 seconds, or two minutes? She takes it.
There is a lot to be said for how you present stuff like this to your kids. There is nothing optional about it. But, they DO get the option to decide how to take it, and how long they stand there looking at it first. My son is one of those "get it over with" types. Same thing with eating 2 bites of a food he doesn't like. My daughter, on the other hand, is a "stare it to death first" type. And she leaves the required 2 bites of her food on the plate until she is done with the rest of her dinner, too. But, they always end up complying. On their own terms.

I had a similar problem with my son. My daycare provider solved the problem by putting it into a needle-less syringe and letting him squirt it into his mouth himself. For some reason, that made him happy and he did it. I guess it was having control of it himself, as 2-year-olds are prone to do. And of course, a REALLY good reward always helps!

If your regular pharmacy has flavorings or if you have a compounding pharmacy locally you might try adding his favorite flavor to it? If you're using a spoon, maybe try a syringe. My daughter thinks sucking meds out a syringe is fun, weird but it works!

First, talk to your pediatrician. Many cases of otitis will resolve on their own, without the necessity of antibiotics. Many peds will still prescribe antibiotics (either just in case or because the parents expect it). They will often rethink this if giving meds is traumatic. Also, even if your pediatrician feels the meds are important, they may be available in another flavor. Either your pediatrician or pharmacist can help you with this.

My DS is 2.5 too. Seems he barely goes a month without needing some sort of cold medicine/ eyedrops/ ear drops/ antibiotics/ nasal spray/ nebulizer.

The first couple of times we had to pin him down. Recently though, the penny has dropped, and he realizes the medicine helps him feel better and he willingly offers up his nose, ear, eye, mouth for whatever treatment might be in store.

Talk with him. Let him know it doesn't make you happy, but the medicine must be had.

Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.

mix it with his water/juice
__________
also try putting it in the fridge - the cool can make things taste sweeter.

My daughter was so much like this whenever medication was needed. I don't remember all details (this was nearly 40 years ago), but I gave her as much choice as possible, empathized with her dislike, introduced major humor about how yucky that goo was, and emphasized that she had to take it if she was going to get better.

A conversation might have gone something like this: "Oh, it's time to take another WHOLE SPOONFUL of this HORRIBLE tasting goo. Oh, no, how are you ever going to manage it? Do you need more than 5 minutes to get your mouth ready? 10 minutes? Okay, you can have 10 minutes. I would need all day. Maybe until tomorrow, but then I guess my ear would REALLY hurt so bad I'd beg for TWO spoonsful! Do you want an audience? I could go out and flag down some neighbors, maybe someone will have a camera so we can see how your face looks with that stuff in your mouth! Last time, I thought your eyebrows were going to wiggle off your face! Do you think they'll leave this time? I want to see that, so be sure to call me when you're ready."

Now, my daughter has always LOVED an audience. A quieter kid might need a different acknowledgement of her heroic sacrifice. But humor did diffuse a difficult situation. And, because kids are all individuals, many kids will not be traumatized by being forced, but some may be. I have grown up with the sense of being continuously forced by my mother to do all sorts of difficult, uncomfortable or distasteful things since early childhood. It has marked my life in some sad and challenging ways, and at 65, I'm still working to overcome some of this damage. But this was a major feature of my childhood, all the way through high school. So I do appreciate your worry – perhaps if my mom had at least expressed concern for my feelings, they might not have been so difficult.

I wish you and your daughter every success.

Resort to PBB: Parenting By Bribery. Have a treat that he gets ONLY after the medicine has gone down. Something he adores but which you usually withhold from his having often. I'm not saying a full ice cream sundae twice a day, but a handful of M&Ms would be OK. I normally do not go for food treats as bribes (we didn't even do the thing some parents do of giving candy for potty training) but he does have to get this medicine down and keep it down, and at some point he's going to either rebel, give in, or vomit up this stuff when he's so upset right after taking it. So reducing the drama and struggle would help.

As for your worries that he will be traumatized by your forcing him -- well, he might recall it when he's three or four but it won't scar him for life. Still, I would call the pharmacist right now and explain that your kid has an issue with the chalkiness and the flavor and you want some other options. They have lots of different flavorings available and that might help.

Also, have you taught him to hold his nose while you give it? That really does prevent one from tasting a bad flavor as much as if the nose is open. Make it a game for him, whatever it takes.

My son has always been the same way, and honestly, nothing has worked. We went so far as to drown the antibiotics in far too much chocolate syrup, but no go.

I say all this, though, because my son is 6 now, and I swear he hasn't been traumatized or damaged at all. He's very philosophical about it -- "I hate the medicine, so you have to squish it into my mouth so I get better." I've just come to the point where I accept that it's one of those hated things you have to get kids through. They survive vaccinations; they'll survive this too.

Well that is the way I had to give medicine to my first child, and I wish I had not done that. He is 16 now, but for the longest time he would not and could not take medicine. It was a daily trial everytime he had to take meds, and I always had to ask the doctor if there was a shot he could take instead of the liquid medicine. When he got older, I used tic tacs so he could learn how to swallow pills with water, and he is OK now, but I always felt like I tramatized him somehow my forcing medicine down his throat. Good luck to you that is not a fun one.

You can try mixing it with a little bit of applesauce

You've gotten some good suggestions. If you have to lay him down and pin him down to get the medicine in his mouth: once some of the medicine is in blow in his face, this will force him to swallow so he can breathe.

He will not be traumatized, there are MUCH worse things he could have to endure.

I like the idea of letting him push the plunger on the medicine syringe, if you can get him to do it, that is a great solution.

M

Boy, I have been there... My son had 3 back to back ear-infections and I could never get him to take the medicine. Took him to a chiropractor and he never had another infection. Also, colloidal silver is a natural antibiotic and it tastes like water (I'm not a doctor, so don't take that as medical advice :). However, if you absolutely feel like you HAVE to do the antibiotic just let your doctor know that he won't take it and he can give him a shot instead. I feel that the shot may probably work better than taking orally anyway because it goes directly into the blood stream and doesn't do as much damage to the intestinal flora (which provides 80% of your immune system). I also highly recommend getting him on pro-biotics right away and for at least two weeks to a month afterwards.

Try mixing it with Hershey's chocolate syrup. :) As the saying goes, a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.

I usually treat ear infections with a topical for pain, decongestants and face/neck massage to clear the blocked ducts that cause the pressure. We leave antibiotics as a last resort, and almost never need them. Not sure how long he has had the infection, but have you tried any natural cures? In other countries, like the UK where my boys were born, they all think we over medicate our children and that strong RX meds should not be used so quickly as we do for every little thing. Just a thought.

If you do need the meds, I agree with Shaleya, try mixing it with apple sauce, or offer him a bribe like a small candy or icecream if he takes it without fuss.

Use a syringe type dispenser so that it can be dispensed in small amounts, like 1/2 a tsp at a time. There is one medicine when my daughter was younger where I would have to put my kid on the couch, hang her head over and then stick the dispenser between her cheek and teeth. (it makes them have to swallow).

Ask the pharmacy about if the medicine can be kept in the fridge. Sometimes having it be cold helps with the taste. You could also try mixing it with a small amount of juice.

It's understandable that you are concerned this will traumatize him forever, but it honestly won't. The bottom line is he needs the medicine, period. Parents sometimes need to do what's best for their children, as hard as it is.

BTW, I know many children with cancers that go through horrible procedures and receive strong medications daily, not because someone can force them to but because it will hopefully help them get better. They have severe side effects from a lot of it, which is terribly heartbreaking, but get through it and don't stay traumatized...if they survive.

Handle it matter-of-factly, use a syringe, pharmacies include them for free with prescriptions, you can ask if you didn't receive one, aim it next to his cheek towards the back of his mouth, he'll taste it less if he swallows quickly because his tastebuds are mainly on his tongue. Pin him if you have to, hug him when it's over and tell him you love him. Don't dwell on it, it is what it is, an end to him getting better. As he gets older he'll hopefully understand your explanations of why he needs it and will comply just to get it over with ;)

syringe it way back in his mouth so he cant taste it much.. but just matter of fact force him.. no drama from mama.. it has to be done..

just like when you cleaned out his nose with the nasal aspirator as a baby.. it has to be done..

just wait till he gets a splinter.. oooooh do they scream when you get those out..

I knew a grown woman who had difficulty swallowing pills but she absolutely could not take liquid medicine. When she was a small chlid her mother would straddle her chest and squeeze her mouth open to give her medicine. As an adult she still choked up at the thought of taking liquid meds. When she had bronchitis as an adult, myself and other friends took turns forcing the medicine down her throat because she really could not do it herself.

i cant remember what meds my 2 year old had to take but it was an antibiotic twice daily for 10 days.....It. Was. Horrible. I know how you feel. I called the doctors office and the nurse said I could mix it with chocolate pudding, strawberry syrup to make strawberry milk...i think that was it or maybe thats just the only things i knew he would eat. Either way, try calling the docs office and see what you can mix it with. If he still wont eat or drink it....at least he wont remember the trauma when he is older!

Sometimes we just have to do things that we don't want to do as parents or as children. As parents we know what's best for our children, especially when it comes to their health and medications. That means if force is required, as distasteful as it is, then it has to be done. It's not so traumatizing that his feelings towards you will change, and he really won't be so affected that he's going to need therapy or something. There won't be a long term affect. And yes, you force him because you're the parents and you're bigger and stronger and you know better! You have to use the benefits of being the parent to your advantage!

Tricking my children never worked. I did bribe them with fruit. For each taste of medicine they had to take that was nasty, it was followed up immediately with something delicious to wash the nasty flavor away.

From an early age all of my girls were able to swallow medicine in pill form, so I would ask for tablets that could be cut into halves to make them easier to swallow. The girls have loved this because they can swallow down whatever the medication is using whatever drink they like. My autistic daughter sometimes uses Silk fruit smoothie protein drink. Sometimes V-8. Sometimes chocolate milk made with lactose-free milk and homemade cocoa mix. Sometimes chocolate or vanilla soymilk.

Anyway. This is just one of those tasks that you sort of have to suck up as a parent.

Dear M K, I have a very resourceful and strong willed 6 y/o and no medicine would go down without choking it down his throat (with a few people holding him down) and then he would throw up! So I just had him get shots until this year when he chose to take the medicine instead of getting an antibiotic shot. It was much better to go that route and ensure he got the needed medicine and just a few seconds of crying after the shot (only 1 time vs 10 days of oral antibiotics) vs multiple daily struggles, trauma, and little or no medicine into his system! Mixing with other stuff is a terrible idea because they wont drink it, or drink all of it and then you have no way of knowing how much meds got into their system. Plus none of my 8 kids were fooled one bit! Best wishes and God bless!