Content

• Steps
• Tips
• Warnings

If your child needs to take medications on a regular basis, it can be difficult to give them. In this article, we provide tips that can help you.

Steps

1. 1 Consider the child's age. The method that works for a seven-year-old will be different from the method that works for a two-year-old (unless a seven-year-old acts like two). Bribery of a child from time to time is also possible.
2. 2 Stop using medications in solution or gummies. They taste bad and contain too much sugar and dyes. Teach your child to swallow pills. This can and should be done starting from the age of four (see tips at the bottom of the article).
3. 3 Choose liquid medicines that taste good. Many children swallow cherry or gum flavored potions with ease. Remember that every child is different, so it may happen that your child is more suitable to wash down everything with water or juice without sugar.
4. 4 Give your child chocolate after taking the medication. If the child is older than a year, you can give him chocolate syrup from a spoon after he has swallowed the unpleasant medicine. Prepare a spoon ahead of time so your child doesn't have to wait long. The chocolate syrup is viscous enough to gently coat the mouth and muffle the taste of the medicine.
5. 5 If your child is over 5 years old, find out why he doesn't like taking medication. The child may have compelling reasons that he or she does not know how to talk about in words. He may have a congenital reaction to some of the constituents of the drug (for example, nitrates). Also, side effects of drugs that the child does not like are not excluded (see tips).
6. 6 Use this method only if all others have proven ineffective and if skipping a medication can have immediate serious consequences for the body.
   • Lay the baby down on the floor with his head between your knees and feet away from you. You may need the help of another person.
   • Fix your head with your knees. be careful, don't press, just hold the baby. This will free your hands and make it easier for you to get the medicine.
   • Pinch the baby's nose with one hand and dump or pour the medicine into the mouth with the other hand. If you pinch your nose, your child will have to open his mouth so that he can breathe and then swallow the medicine. We remind you once again: this method should be resorted to only in extreme cases.
   • Do not praise your child after giving the medicine in this way. Explain that these are extreme measures. If you praise your child for this behavior, he will do the same in the future.

Tips

• Start accustoming your child to the medicine when he is healthy. It is best to do this from the age of four. By this time, the shape of the jaw changes, making it easier for adults to swallow food. Psychologically, a child wants to be an adult, not a small one.
  • Turn the process into a game. Show your child a coin and tell your child that your throat was this size as a child. Try to find the smallest coin to help your child understand the scale better. Don't tell your child that the pill is too big. Say that it can be difficult to swallow because of its unusual shape or texture, but not because of its size. Unless the pill is larger than the smallest coin, the child can swallow it.
  • On your next shopping trip, ask your child which they like better - Skittles or regular M & Ms. Let your child choose the packaging and put the sweets in a separate bag. Place the candies in a separate bowl so that only your son or daughter can take them out. Ask your child to select all the green candies from the total and put them in a separate bowl, and then remove the first bowl. Tell your child that he is now learning to take adult medication and that there will be no more pediatric medication. Allow your child to eat all the remaining candies only after they have swallowed all the green ones.
  • Repeat the exercise for several days so that the child understands the principle. Show how to put the green "pill" on your tongue, take a sip of water, and take the medicine.Do not pressure the child - he is just learning to use the tongue for other purposes besides eating. When the baby is drinking milk from the breast or bottle, he presses his tongue against the upper palate to suck out the liquid and swallow it. When he does the same with the pill, it sticks to the palate, dissolves and tastes bad. The child needs to learn not to press the tongue to the palate while swallowing. Don't scold your child - instead, praise him for his successes and say that with experience he will be able to do everything easily. Keep your promise and give him all the other candy as a well-deserved reward.
• It will become much easier for you: no measuring spoons, no refrigerators and no scandals over a tasteless medicine. You will no longer spill potion!
• Counting pills and using self-adhesive stickers are just the beginning.
• The required medication must be taken in the correct dosage, at the right time to treat the exact condition the patient has, and taking into account their medical history.
• People who sell drugs in pharmacies are called pharmacists. The people who make medicines are pharmacists.
• All medicines have side effects, some desirable and others unwanted. This is the whole point of drugs. Take Amoxicillin as an example: its desired effect is that it forces the infection to develop faster, weakening it, allowing the body's immune system to fight it off. Amoxicillin itself does not eradicate the infection. Side effects of this medication include nausea, diarrhea, fever, thrush, difficulty breathing, swollen throat, and anaphylaxis. Such symptoms are not manifested in all patients, but they are possible.
• If you are no longer a nursing infant, but a grown-up child who refuses to take medication, and you suspect that there are other reasons besides bad taste, study all the necessary information. Ask the pharmacist to show you the leaflet that comes with the medicine in the box. This leaflet is different from the instructions for use. It contains a complete list of drug interactions with others, as well as all possible side effects. Read all information carefully. It has been prepared for healthcare professionals, so don't be intimidated by everything that is written there.
• If you read this leaflet before taking or giving medicine, you may decide to never buy pills again. This also applies to the properties of homeopathic medicines. If the package insert says that there is a 2% chance of a drug causing a certain reaction, do not neglect this probability. Often, patients experience allergic reactions or hypersensitivity to the inactive component of the drug (that is, to a preservative or dye). If your child is hypersensitive to the red dye, it is possible that the dye in the Amoxicillin suspension is causing them discomfort.
• Your pediatrician may refuse to prescribe pills and capsules. Most doctors are accustomed to prescribing medications for children in liquid form. Most dosages can be changed or taken as is. For example, suspension Amoxicillin 250 mg per 5 ml (teaspoon) capsule Amoxicillin 250 mg per tablet. The dosages are the same, and the release form will not affect the therapeutic effect in any way. It is best for the doctor to prescribe medications in the form of pills or capsules, because this will help the child get used to them faster. Don't let your doctor prescribe suspensions if you don't want to (learn to read prescriptions). The doctor can also make a note on the child's card about the form of medication they want.
• If you find a side effect of the drug or the drug starts interacting with other medications, see your doctor.Any doctor has sufficient knowledge to prescribe an alternative drug that will not have side effects. Make notes so that you can understand what is at stake in the future.
• First, you can discuss the properties of medicines with a pharmacist at a pharmacy, and then consult a doctor. Be persistent but patient - it is possible that the doctor knew about the likelihood of side effects. A small number of cases of undesirable symptoms in patients could force him to study the issue and decide that such a drug can still be prescribed. Don't let your doctor dismiss what you tell him. He may decide that you are questioning his qualifications and ability to prescribe drugs. Doctors are taught to be confident in their prescriptions, and you may experience this. If you do not like the outcome of the consultation, change your doctor or ask another doctor for another opinion on your question.

Warnings

• Do not try to break, grind or dissolve the medicine without the permission of your doctor or pharmacist. An increasing number of drugs have a delayed effect, which can be knocked down due to a violation of the integrity of the tablet.
  • Too much medicine can be absorbed into the blood at the same time, or the active substance does not enter the body. Both options are dangerous.