Many medications are purposely made to taste bad. It is a safety feature. If it tastes dreadful it is less likely to attract a child, thus preventing an overdosing. A bad taste is not always a bad thing, sometimes it can save a life.
Other medications taste bad for the very simple reason that is the way they naturally taste. The base ingredients are bitter and there is just no way to make them taste good. Most often these are sold in pill form. ASA, for example was originally extracted from willow bark and was so bitter sometimes the beaver wouldn't eat it. Willow bark tea was often used as a painkiller in pioneer times, you may know it by its more common commercial name, aspirin.
Administering a liquid medication
When you have to give a medication to a tiny baby it is generally in liquid form. It doesn't take many doses for the child to catch on to the fact that the dropper means a bad taste and the baby will quite likely struggle. Both of you will end up covered in the medication and almost none of it will get inside the baby. The following method is guaranteed mess free if you are brisk enough about it.
Fill the dropper with the required dose and place it in the corner of the baby's mouth. Aim towards the opposite side, where the upper and lower jaws meet and squeeze hard. The sudden touch on that spot will trigger the swallowing reflex. Baby has no choice. If, however, you are slow and hesitant the baby will pick up on the fact that something is up and react accordingly. Then you will have a bad time, too. A no nonsense approach is the best kind. And do it fast!
Suppositories
You may, from time to time, have to give your child a suppository, especially if it is medication to suppress vomiting. They work more quickly than oral medication and the baby doesn't get a chance to throw it back up.
Sometimes when you take the suppository out of the package it will have sharp edges. Make sure you remove the rough edges with a small knife or a fingernail. They can be very painful on the sensitive mucous membranes inside.
Make sure your fingernails are short, smooth and clean. Rough, ragged nails can cause an injury. Wash your hands thoroughly. Baby is already ill, you don't want to make matters worse.
Turn the baby over, locate the rectum (it's really small) and push the suppository in to about the depth if the first joint on your index finger. The baby will object, probably very loudly. Anyone would, it's a nasty thing to have happen. You will have to hold the buttocks tightly together for at least 30 seconds (maybe longer) or the thing will pop right back out and you will have to do it all over again.
It is best to do this after the baby has had a bowel movement, unless you are giving the poor mite a laxative. Don't worry about getting poo on your finger, it just doesn't happen. Wash your hands very thoroughly again, pick up your baby and have a snuggle. You both deserve it.
Older kids
About the time you start solid foods the automatic reflex to swallow when liquid hits the back of the jaw goes away. Do not try squirting medication straight down the back of the throat. It is a choking hazard.
Buy a hollow handled medicine spoon (many pharmacies give them away free) if the product doesn't have a dropper in it. The first couple of times you use it you will have the benefit of surprise on your side but once the child catches on to what the spoon means you may have trouble.
Holding the nose until the child opens his mouth to breathe is also a trick with limited use. Kids catch on quickly. After that one runs out on you try putting you hand under the chin and apply gentle pressure on the hinges of the jaw. This works sometimes and sometimes it doesn't.
Bribes, threats and rewards may or may not work for you. The child has to be old enough to understand what you mean. By that time a command to just swallow it may be enough. Do tell the child that Mommy knows it tastes horrible but it will make the pain (earache, whatever) go away.
The problem with the reward system is any child smart enough to breathe will demand greater and greater rewards. Hopefully the child will have learned to swallow pills before the required reward is a new BMW.
Swallowing pills
Swallowing pills is a learned skill and a very useful one. Start with something small, a tiny baking candy or a chocolate chip and be prepared for a bit of coughing. They are smooth, like a pill, but dissolve when ingested so choking should be minimal. Once the child has mastered the swallowing let them have some of the chocolate chips as a reward.
Do not attempt this with very young children. Until they are six or seven they are not really old enough to understand what you are talking about.
If the pill swallowing lessons are not working well try rolling the pill in a bit of butter. A slick pill just slides down.
A spoonful of sugar
A spoonful of sugar does indeed help the medicine go down but a spoonful of jam works even better. If you have to administer a pill to a child who cannot swallow one crush the pill and add jam. If it is a gelatin capsule just put the whole thing in the jam. Jam works better than honey as it comes off the spoon more readily and the fruit flavor will usually cover up the horrible taste. (Not always, but usually.)
Gook luck and let's hope the child gets better soon.
Jennifer Wilding - I am a graduate of McMaster University with degrees in religion and politics. The original plan had been to put my degrees to work but a ...
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