A child refuses to take antibiotics for many reasons. It is important for parents to have proper methods to help their children get medicine without fuss.
Here are 5 tips parents should try to address their child’s medication problem.
Reasons Why Children Refuse To Take Antibiotics
The Bitter Taste Of Medicine
The antibiotic tablets are pain relievers but have a bitter taste and are difficult to swallow. It is also the main reason why children do not want to take medicine.
Its bitter taste will spread immediately after contact with the tongue. Even if using water can soothe it, the bitter flavor will persist after the pill has been swallowed.
Understanding this tendency, you will easily know how to give medicine to a toddler who refuses.
The Big Size Of The Pill
In addition, a toddler won’t take antibiotics because some capsules are only made in certain sizes. Large tablets like oral acetaminophen will make it difficult for children to swallow them.
Those pills might get stuck in their throat, which is a common case for children and seniors. Some kids even vomit when they have to get these over-the-counter pills.
Besides, the fact that parents force their children to take pills without considering the size also makes children feel scared and creates a psychological barrier when taking antibiotics.
How To Help Your Child To Take Antibiotics?
The most effective methods are getting in the habit of taking medicine and persuading your child to have it by offering something they like.
Alternatively, parents can crush pills and add fruit flavors and children’s favorite drinks to make them easier for kids to take.
Give Choices
It’s best to comfort your children properly when they get sick. When they are fussy, give them options to focus their thoughts and choose what they want.
You can ask your child if they want to take oral medicine on their own or let you help them or whether they want to get it with a spoon or a straw.
After taking an entire dose of medicine, your kids might beg for strawberries or grapes and drink chocolate syrup or juice.
However, this is not very effective when your baby is crying loudly. So, it would be best to calm them down first and then give them a choice to make the process go more smoothly.
Establish A Routine
Creating a routine every time you give your child medicine will leave things easier. You can turn on the TV for your child to watch kids’ TV shows or play some children’s music.
It keeps them interested and makes your child instinctively take medicine when watching TV.
Besides, you can be creative to make this process as fun as a game. You can play the role of a superhero and help your child recover from the disease, provided that they take the pills.
Playing sledgehammer with them is also worth trying. You get a forehead flick when you lose; if the kid loses, they have to get antibiotics.
Know Your Child’s Hobbies
Knowing your child’s preferences will pay your way to lure them into taking medication. All you have to do is bring out toys or things that your child loves.
It will attract the kid’s attention and support you to give your child those types of treatment.
Children’s preferences can change continuously according to their stage of psychophysiological development. Parents need to monitor their children’s growth to understand their wishes.
However, do not overindulge your child. They will be insatiable, and parents should decide whether to compromise or not.
Crush The Medicine Or Add Flavorings
A toddler refuses to take medicine as the tablet is too big, so the parents should break the pill into halves, or crush and dilute it with water (prescribed antibiotics).
It will lessen the bitter taste and help children take pills more effortlessly.
Alternatively, you can ask the pharmacist who can add sweet food and flavors such as strawberries, so your child can have antibiotics easier. If the doctor allows, replace water with fruit juice to attract kids.
The juice’s sweetness will overwhelm the tongue’s bitter taste after contact with the drug. But you’d better minimize the sugar amount, as antibiotics are partly responsible for obesity in babies.
Besides, parents can put the pills in the refrigerator. It is one of the most effective ways to significantly reduce the bitterness of antibiotics.
However, ask your pharmacist for advice to ensure that these cold medicines or cold fluids don’t lose any potency.
Praise And Reward
Giving praise while your child is taking antibiotics will encourage them, and your child will slowly take them down.
No matter how long drinking antibiotics takes, parents should patiently praise their children.
After that process is over, adults should give children small gifts to compliment them. It could be stickers, stuffed animals, toys, or pieces of candy that you can easily get ideas from the internet.
For pickier trots, you can even “seal the deal” by bringing them out for some activities on Hampton roads.
When your little ones need to take fever medicines, it’s a wise choice to promise children that you will bring them to the park, the zoo or play with them on the slide a couple of days when they are out and about.
It is important that they keep their promises after their child recovers from illness.
FAQs
How To Give Liquid Medicine For A Child?
You can use an oral dosing syringe or household spoons for measuring to get the most accurate dose of medication.
A child won’t take liquid medicine due to the bitter taste of some strong antibiotics, so you should take a syringe to slowly drop the medicine into the child’s throat.
It can limit the drug’s contact with the tongue, minimizing the bitter taste. Besides, putting medicine in the throat makes it impossible for the child to spit the antibiotics out.
You can ask your pharmacist to add strong-sweet flavors such as fruit, pancake syrup, or ice cream to turn the pain relief medicine into a better-tasting one.
Many parents also apply the trick of mixing breast milk into the bad-tasting antibiotic solution and giving it to their children to drink.
When Do I Need To Call My Doctor If My Child Refuses To Take Antibiotics?
You need to call the doctor for antibiotics when your baby is crying loudly, refuses to take medicine, and shows signs of worsening illness.
Symptoms such as vomiting, allergic reaction, or fever are typical signs.
But remember to distinguish between vomiting and spitting up after eating (might be 3 hours later). The latter is not much of a concern in this case.
In many cases, doctors with many years of experience will provide medical care or use other measures to help children take medicine with the support of a nurse.
How To Force Child To Take Medicine?
Forcing a child to take medicine for pain is not advisable. It will cause children to panic every time they take antibiotics. Gradually, the child will consider the pills his enemy and find ways to avoid them.
Therefore, parents should use gentle approaches such as giving care advice or giving things children like to lure children into taking medicine.
There are many ways to help your child, so take the time to learn and find the right solution.
Conclusion
Providing options, understanding your child’s preferences, and praising your child after taking medicine are safety tips when a child refuses to take antibiotics.
Parents can apply it to support their children in taking antibiotics. If they show some abnormal signs like vomiting many times, take them to the doctor at once.