None of my children like taking their medicine. No matter how sick or miserable they are, the promise of feeling better never works. I beg and plead. I bribe. Then I try the guilt trip. It drives me crazy. Sometimes dealing with medicine negotiations is worse than dealing with the snotty noses.
Desperation can drive creativity. Or bribery. However you want to see it. I’m not proud of all these tricks, but when your child has a 102.2 fever, you do whatever you can to get him to drink his ibuprofen. My husband deserves some credit for some of these tricks to get our kids to drink your medicine.
Bribery can get you everywhere. I used to bribe the kids with candy, but always felt kind of guilty about it. Instead we’ve tried some different bribes.
- Gummy vitamins. My toddler still thinks gummy vitamins are candy. He will suck down his teaspoon of meds so he can eat the little gummy. The only downside to this is that I can only use it once a day he can only have one vitamin a day. My daughter has totally caught onto this trick, but she loves her gummy vitamins. Sometimes this works for her.
- Just Dance 3 or other video games. My toddler is obsessed with playing games on our Wii, specifically Just Dance games. His favorite song is the techno hit Barbara Streisand by Duck Sauce. Last night, my husband totally bribed my toddler with a chance to dance to Just Dance 3. Who knows if my toddler will feel well enough this afternoon to dance. But it worked.
- Change its flavor. I don’t think I have ever tasted a delicious medicine. They’re all gross. If there’s a Target Pharmacy near you, you can have them add a flavor shot to any liquid over-the-counter or prescription medicine. I think there’s over 15 flavors to choose from. Our Target pharmacist even told us which ones tasted the best.
- Put it in different cup. Don’t judge, but we’ve put medicine mixed with juice in shot glasses to get the kids to drink it. We’ve played “tea party” by putting it in mini teacups or those teeny espresso cups. For some reason this makes the medicine less intimidating.
- Teeny tiny straws. Out of desperation, I’ve cut down bendy straws to fit the little medicine cups. The kids can sip the meds right out the cup without sitting up or being propped up as well. Use a new mini-straw each time so you’re not spreading germs from one straw to the next.
I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Clorox® blogging program, for 8,000 My SocialMoms Rewards Points. For more information on how you can participate, click here. All opinions and bribery are entirely my own.
Photo by Dru! via Creative Commons
One of our mutual friends taught me the Hershey’s syrup trick. Just add enough to the mess so that the chocolate overpowers the medicine flavor. Works every time!!
Meds not mess…oops!