The respiratory illness season is well underway, with many areas of the country seeing the spread of typical viruses such as flu and RSV. In addition, the CDC has reported an unusual rise in contagious “walking pneumonia” cases among young children.
Whether your child needs medicine for a new infection or a condition that they are managing long-term, you may have come across this challenge as a parent: what to do if your child refuses to take their medicine.
Young kids don’t fully understand the importance of taking medicine, no matter how much you explain it to them. Even if you try to keep the experience as quick, painless, and positive as possible, they may still think of taking medicine as something unknown, scary, bad-tasting, or uncomfortable, so their natural reaction may be to reject the whole idea. So what can a parent do?
Experts advise that most over-the-counter (OTC) medications shouldn’t be forced on kids if they are unwilling. These OTC medications may help ease symptoms in the short term, but aren’t necessary for fighting off diseases or underlying conditions. So don’t get into a battle of wills if you don’t really have to.
However, prescribed medications that kids really do need to take are a different story. If you’ve already tried many different ways to convince your child to take their medicine and they’re still outright refusing — or spitting it out after you’ve carefully measured their dose — here are some practical solutions.
Sugarcoat it (their tongue)
For medicine that tastes strong in a bad way, an equally strong, sweet-tasting syrup (like chocolate syrup, maple syrup, or whatever they like) may come to the rescue. First, let them have a spoon of the thick, sugary food. Then immediately, while it’s still sticking to their taste buds, put the medicine in their mouth. The sugar will not only mask the taste but can actually help them feel better about the whole experience.
Note that mixing the medicine with a milder food/drink like juice, applesauce, or yogurt may not be sufficient to hide the taste — and you can unintentionally end up with an even greater volume of the bad-tasting stuff, which may simply draw out the drama for longer.
Squirt it in
An oral syringe (which you can find at any pharmacy and may be available for free with liquid medication prescriptions) can help you get liquid medication into their mouth faster than with a spoon. Plus, you can bypass taste buds if you aim for the inside of their cheek or the back of their tongue — but be careful not to squirt directly into their throat to avoid choking or gagging.
Some kids might enjoy holding the plunger themselves for a sense of control and involvement in the process. So if they’re willing, let them! This method can work well in conjunction with the sugarcoating method above.
Use the freezer
Let your child have an ice cube or popsicle before taking the medicine. If the medicine is in pill form, you can also put the pill in the freezer for a few minutes. You can even coat a pill in a chocolate shell topping that hardens quickly in the freezer!
All of these frozen methods can help numb the tongue and throat, improve the taste, and make it physically easier for them to swallow the medicine.
Hold them if necessary
If you’ve already tried everything above and a toddler or young child is still unwilling to cooperate to take liquid medicine, you can restrain them if necessary, but follow these expert-recommended steps so that it’s not a traumatic experience.
- One adult can hold the child, including their hands so they don’t try to swipe away the medicine, while another adult gives them the medicine in the quickest way possible (such as with an oral syringe in between their teeth).
- You can use a sweetener, too (see above), so that there’s a chance they won’t hate the experience as much as they expected.
- Hold them until they swallow it, or you’ve finished putting in eye/ear drops.
- Then be sure to apologize immediately afterward to your child for having to hold them down. Say, “I’m sorry we had to hold you like that. We wouldn’t have done it if there was any other way to give the medicine. If you help next time, we won’t have to do that.”
- Then give them a hug and let them do a special activity that they enjoy, or give them the reward you may have promised earlier.
- Next time, they may be more willing to participate in some way (like holding the syringe).
Call your pediatrician or pediatric specialist
If you still have concerns about your child not taking their medication or not getting the correct dosage, don’t hesitate to consult their doctor!
Chances are, if the doctor works with kids, they’ve come across this problem before. There might be a better-tasting alternative the doctor can prescribe, or they might have suggestions on other ways to administer the medication that you haven’t thought of. For example, it might be possible to put eye drops in while a young child is sleeping.
