My son is 2. He is sick and refuses to take his medicine can u help?

Question

I've tried to bribe him with candy, cookies, and Elmo. I have tried to punish him. Still, he won't take it. Any information you can give would be helpful.

Answer 1

OOh man..this is a tough one..been there, done that, my son is 2 too, and also HATES liquid medicine. There is nothing worse then finally forcing it into his mouth only to have him spit it all out over everyone. It sounds mean but I have gone as far as holding his nose while I put the eye dropper in his cheek, while he's laying on his back, and that seemed to help. I try to get all medicine in chewable tablets whenever possible. He's used to chewing vitamins so that kind of helped.

Answer 2

My son is 4 and will FINALLY take medicine without a fight. He is a picky eater, doesn't like to try anything new and afraid of getting something "yucky" so I never, ever had to worry about him putting things in his mouth as a toddler.

He has severe allergies and asthma so he is always taking some type of medicine.

I am a HUGE fan of mixing it in the drink. Get the blandest flavor offered and mix it with anything you can that he likes. I find that Minute Maid Fruit Punch masks a lot of the flavors. Make sure it is in a sippy so it doesn't get spilled.

We've mixed it in very runny milkshakes and just under a bite of icecream. I put a layer of icecream on the spoon, then pour some of the medicine, then a little more icecream. By the time he realizes it its gone. Then a small bite of no medicine and another bite of medcine icecream. lol

This seems a bit extreme but having an all out war 3 times a day, everyday isn't fun either. Most of the time his gag reflex is so bad he throws it up each time. Not fun.

At times I've put it in a medicine syringe, held him down, leaned his head back, and shot it into the back of his jaw and blow in his face. When you blow air in the face the automatic reflex is to swallow. Learned this trick from the pediatric nurses during a hospital stay.

Try the chewables. They make them for toddlers. Make sure you get the name brand because they taste MUCH better.

It is gross but if you need to give him a fever reducer you can buy the FeverAll Suppositories. They are easy to put in, just make sure you keep his butt cheeks closed so he can't push it out right away.

My little boy decided to try medicine when he had strep throat. It hurt so bad that he wanted anything to make it feel better. He will still gag on certain kinds though.

Good Luck.SD

Answer 3

so sorry to hear that he is not feeling well.
Does his sickness require that he take this medication (an antibiotic for example) or is it something to just relieve the symptoms (something to keep his nose from running).
If it is the not life threatening if he does not take it, then dont force him.
he might be smarter than us all and realize that some of those drugs are dangerous.
If it is the antibiotic or a perscription, talk to the pharmacist and see about getting flavorings added to it to make it taste a bit better. My guess is that it is the taste that has your little guy getting fussy.
Also the syringe helps as you can squirt it down his throat

Answer 4

Do you ever give him soda? I usually do *not* give my son any, but when it comes to medicine time I add his meds to a cup (or only as much as your son will finish at a sitting so the meds will all be drank) of Dr.Pepper & he doesn't know the difference because it masks the taste very well. He thinks he is getting a treat, but just don't let him see you add it in. Wait until around dinner time or lunch & give it to him as his drink. Also, don't act nervous! If he senses that you are nervous, it will probably fail because he's expecting something bad to happen. Good luck!

Answer 5

First, don't set yourself up for a battle. I'm guessing that you get all tense before you have to give him his medicine, but he will pick up on the tension.

Have you turned it into a game? Let one of his toys drink some medicine and let him see how happy that makes you by piling loads of praise on the toy- then maybe your son will want in on this.

Do you give it by spoon or syringe? I found oral syringes best for my daughter, but she is so used to taking medicine that she'll even ask for it now!
You can add it to drinks, but you need to check that doing it won't dilute the medicinal effects too much.

Remember to hype it up...it's yummy!!!!
It's special drink for the great little boy!!!

(It's nothing to get worked up about)
Relax and squirt it into the side of his mouth towards the back :)

Answer 6

At this age kids want to do everything themselves. I ask my son if he want to be a big boy and take his medicine himself and it works a lot better than the struggles. There are some days the syringe in the back of the check and both of us holding him is all that works though!

Answer 7

i'm lucky that my kids don't put up a fight when it comes to taking their medicines. can you make sure that their medicines taste AND SMELL good? i started them with the "plane landing on their mouth" stunt. also try to make up stories about how taking the medicine will help them get well.

choose a fun spoon, that might do the trick.

or practice everyday with grape juice on his medicine spoon, or strawberry jam, or orange juice. i think today's medicines for children are better than before, will all the flavors and all.

good luck. i know for sure your child will grow out of that phase. :)

Answer 8

Do you have an old medicine seringe? You open his mouth and squirt the meds against the back of the cheek,he will swallow. Or you could mix it in to pudding,or a cup of juice or koolaid. Sometimes we have to be mean in order to get the meds in.

Answer 9

Most of the time you can mix it with their drink. You can even ask your pharmacy if they can add a flavor to the medicine.

Answer 10

Put it in his food or you could get the medicine that taste good for kids!!....I would think he'd eat it if you put it in his food.