3 Solutions for Encouraging Children to Take Their Medicine

While Mary Poppins suggests “a spoonful of sugar” to get kids to take their medicine, children seem to always have some aversion to taking it, even if it tastes a bit sweeter. Now days, parents are finding cleverer ways to trick their kids into downing their medicine. Keep reading for a few tricks to get your kids to take their medicine.

1. Make it Fun

In reality, taking medicine when you’re sick is about as much fun as doing any other chore. However, if you present the act of taking medicine as something exciting and fun, your child will respond accordingly. Treat “medicine time” as an enjoyable activity. Be as positive as possible when giving your child their medicine. The better your child feels during “medicine time” the easier they will take the medicine.

As you attempt to make the act of taking medicine fun, try to join in on the fun yourself. Take your medicine and vitamins at the same time your child is taking their medicine. Once they see that they get to follow in your footsteps, they’ll be more inclined to play along.

2. Sneak the Medicine In

Medicine has the reputation it does because of the taste. As most medicines taste bitter, most kids are fine with taking their medicine until they have to taste it. At that point, they spit out their medicine, refusing to drink it ever again.

Many parents avoid this entire scenario by dropping the medicine into their kids’ mouths with a dropper or syringe. Even if the child may be capable of drinking the medicine out of a cup, the syringe or dropper method makes it easier to sneak the medicine past their taste buds and down their throat.

3. Change the Taste

While there’s only so much you can do to alter the taste of children’s medicine, many pharmacies do offer the option of adding flavors to children’s medicine. If your child prefers grape, banana, watermelon, or any similar flavor, you’re in luck. However, children likely will still be able to detect the medicine underneath the flavor.

Some parents take the mixing into their own hands by blending the medicine into a smoothie or milkshake. As long as the added ingredients don’t have any adverse effects when mixed with the medicine, this options serves as a clever way to hide the taste while surprising your child with a tasty snack.

Taking medicine is an unavoidable part of life. Use these three tips to help the medicine go down. With a fair amount of ingenuity, your child may even grow to love their “medicine time”.