One of the pressing problems of parents of sick children is taking medication. Of course, children sometimes refuse to drink pills and syrups. What should parents do?
Immediately make a reservation that this article is for parents of ordinary (read - healthy) children. In the sense of children who do not have severe chronic diseases. We are talking about children who periodically suffer from acute respiratory infections, acute respiratory viral infections, bronchitis of varying severity, less often pneumonia.
So, the child got sick. During the illness, children become more moody. Why is that? The fact is that all the forces of the body go to recovery and the psyche becomes more vulnerable. Hence the whims. Nothing wrong with the child. After the child recovers, there will be less vagaries again. And one of the whims is the reluctance of the child to take medicine.
A couple of decades ago, the problem of the child’s reluctance to take medicine was mainly associated with the reluctance to swallow bitter tablets, powders and syrups. Normal reluctance, right? This is how a person works. People do not like the bitter, and the child does not want to experience negative emotions from the feeling of bitterness in his mouth. If your child does not take the pills precisely because they are bitter, then the easiest option is to discuss alternatives with your doctor. At the moment, this is definitely not a problem. So, if a child does not drink drugs well, then an antipyretic can be given rectally. Tablets are successfully replaced with syrups, drops, etc.
But it also happens that the child is prescribed ordinary sweet syrups, but the problem remains. What to do and why the child does not want to drink medicine? My experience of interacting with parents shows that in this case, excessive treatment is most often observed. What is excess treatment, you ask? And this means that in addition to the doctor’s prescriptions, a variety of manipulations are performed with the child, often duplicating each other. So, they put mustard plasters, cans, soar their feet, do rubbing, repeatedly make them gargle, rinse their nose and breathe over the potatoes. And this is not the whole list of possible procedures. If you, dear parents, “thoroughly” treat the child, supplementing the doctor’s prescription, then with some probability the child has already “healed”. He is tired of numerous procedures and therefore refuses to perform them, including drinking prescribed medications. If your child refuses to drink medicine, think about whether you look like those parents who treat the child without rest from morning to night. Then the first step in solving the problem should be to reduce medical procedures strictly to those prescribed by the doctor.
So, we carry out only the doctor’s prescriptions (no amateur activities!), The child was prescribed more or less pleasant-tasting medicines, but he is still capricious and refuses to take them. And again look at the medicines you give your child. Some of them (for example, drops) can be dissolved in water, after taking the syrup, you can give your child a tasty drink (compote, milk with honey), if you need to take a pill, be sure to crush it, as it is difficult for small children to swallow the capsule, and after taking it, suggest baby something tasty (a spoon of honey, for example).
It’s not easy to agree with the kids. They are easier to distract and during an interesting action to give medicine. For example, when a child watches cartoons or enthusiastically plays with an adult, he usually takes medications, because he does not want to be distracted from an interesting activity for a long time. With older children, such tricks no longer work, but you can negotiate with them. For example, if you need to gargle, and the child does not want to do this (really, an unpleasant procedure), then offer the child a choice. A choice that really will not be: “Do you want to gargle with chamomile or a solution of a yellow tablet (furatsilina)?”. Or such a choice: “Will you drink syrup now or after you drink compote?”. The child chooses, and you can only give him what he chose.
Also, preschoolers love various stories. Do not be lazy, tell the child in detail about his illness and how drugs that the child refuses to take work. Tell us about the evil bacteria or viruses that have settled in the body. About how they multiply and interfere with recovery. Why do we need pills? Pills are needed to defeat these very evil bacteria and viruses. And if you do not drink pills, then, unfortunately, the evil bacteria will live in the body.
Do not forget that the child is hard during the illness and he definitely needs positive emotions. Therefore, if the child is naughty, then be sure to tell him something pleasant before drinking the pills, for example: “You will take pills now, and then I will read to you (play dominoes, call grandmother).” And be sure to praise the child for taking medications, despite the fact that it is very unpleasant.
Syrup or tablet
Children can get sick often. But usually we are talking about a small set of diagnoses, which means drugs that are used at home for treatment. If the child does not have chronic diseases that require special medications, then a typical kit in the medicine cabinet is antipyretic and antihistamines, antiseptics, sorbents, oral rehydration preparations, ear drops, vitamin D.
All this is available in special children's forms - liquid or soluble (including antibiotics). We are talking about syrups, potions, suspensions, drops, powders for dilution. They can be sweet, have a bright color and fruity taste, in extreme cases, both will be neutral.
Persuading a child to take such a medicine is much easier than during the time of our mothers and grandmothers, who were forced to swallow bitter tablets intended for adults.
The rejection of tablet forms in favor of liquid in the case of children has several reasons. A small child may choke, in addition, many children have difficulty swallowing tablets and capsules, and solid forms are more slowly absorbed.
Syrup, drops and other liquids are safer and more convenient, if only because they are more difficult to spit out.
How to give
It seems to an adult that drinking a medicine is quick: once - and ready. But the child can just as quickly "return" him back. Moreover, both involuntarily and quite consciously.
This is often encountered by those parents who, when the baby refuses to drink the medicine, act on the principle of “I don’t want to” and use force.
Try to give the child a drug not from a spoon (by the way, this is not a very reliable way to accurately measure the dose), but with a disposable syringe without a needle. You need to draw a certain amount of the drug into the syringe, place the tip over the cheek (in this case, the child will respond less to the taste of what you give him) and administer the medicine.
How to give a pill to a child correctly?
Each parent is faced with such a problem as giving a child from 0 months to 5 years of age a cough pill or with vomiting, or an antibiotic.
Therefore, drugs such as ambroxol, ampicillin, paracetamol cause a lot of indignation when taken by the child, but you need to give the medicine. What to do? We will tell below.
Before, we will consider all the subtleties of how to give medicine to a child at different ages, we will first of all tell the general instructions on how to give medicine to babies correctly.
After all, for example, mucaltin, it is necessary to dissolve in 1/3 cup of warm water and give to the baby. If desired, syrup can be added to the mixture.
Basic rules for giving your baby a pill
First rule - This is to study the instructions for compatibility with food, as there is a high probability that the baby will need to give the drug by force. Especially if the baby will need to drink a bitter tablet or suspension.
Second rule - Never mix “nasty” medicine with everyday food. This method can lead to the fact that the crumbs refuse one of their dishes. After all, he will remember that after eating, he left an aftertaste with a disgusting aftertaste.
Third rule- one dose at a time. Dosage is important in the course of treatment. And when you give your baby medicine, you absolutely need to do everything with one approach. After all, he will not drink the second portion and even more so the third. This method is also used so that it does not spit out the proposed medicine. So to speak, apply a moment of surprise.
Fourth rule- take care of the aftertaste. As soon as the baby has drunk the necessary dose of medicine, it should be washed down, or eat something tasty.
By following these rules, you will not have problems with taking drugs.
What to do if your child refuses to drink medicine and actively resists?
Tips for giving medications
Fortunately, modern pharmacology is making progress in the manufacture and manufacture of medicines for children, most of which are made in the form of syrups and suspensions.
In these types of drugs for better intake by children, aromatic components have been added that block the bitter and unpleasant taste. There are also drugs only in the form of tablets, and we will tell you how to give a tablet to a child.
Large tablet
In this case, the baby is unable to swallow it. And in order not to vomit it, the tablet must be ground into powder and mixed with water or any other liquid. Then, using a syringe, the medicine must be carefully given to the baby.
In order to minimize the bitterness of the drug, it is best to pour it as close to the language root as possible. Firstly, it will reduce bitterness, and secondly, the swallowing reflex will work.
Agree
This method is of course not very clear to a monthly and one-year-old child, but a small person under the age of 5 will be very useful. Although, as psychologists note, a baby who is only 1 year old also needs to say that he needs to eat a pill, as the stomach will stop hurting from it, etc.
What to do if he spits out a pill and does not want to take the medicine anymore? Then the baby needs to be stimulated.
Come up with a very funny game where there is a miracle tablet or mixture that is very nasty in taste, but has magical properties or something like that. In most cases, this option works with a bang.
How to give medicine if the child refuses
From the moment of birth, parents need to build the right pedagogical strategy. It is especially needed when the baby is sick. Starting to give medicine, the baby begins to cry and resist. And it turns out that not dad and mom raise a child, but vice versa. If the baby at least once deviated from your decision, then he will understand that your decision can be changed. And then such a reaction will occur every time the baby does not like something.
Therefore, parents in the treatment of the baby through persuasion and moderate violence must complete the matter. This will allow parents, realizing the threat to the baby’s health, to finish the treatment they have begun. But after that, parents must hug and praise the baby.
2-3 years old baby
- Sit the child sideways on the left knee, and squeeze his legs between your legs,
- With your left hand, hug and hold the baby to you,
- With your free hand, bring a measuring spoon or syringe with medicine to your mouth and give it a drink,
- If the child resists and does not open his mouth, ask someone to help open the child's mouth by pressing on his cheeks. The child opens his mouth, and in the meantime, the medicine is poured over the cheek.
How to give medicine to a baby
First of all, specify in the instructions on the interaction of the drug with breast milk, mixtures and other medicines.
- Measure in advance and prepare the medicine in a measuring syringe, in a spoon,
- Swaddle a newborn baby or infant so that the handles do not interfere. Keep the baby in the feeding position, i.e. with a slightly raised head,
- Give the drug in small portions so that the child does not choke. By pressing the lower lip with a spoon or syringe, the medicine is injected along the inside of the cheek.
Sometimes babies have to give medicine in tablets. What to do in this case? Check the interaction of the drug with other drugs and fluids, determine the exact dosage of the pill. Grind the tablet between two tablespoons. Add 5 ml of warm water to the medicine in a spoon. It is better not to add milk, including breast milk, since milk is not compatible with some medicines. Give the baby the medicine in any of the ways described.
How to make children under 1 year old swallow a medicine
Out of a spoon . Spoon slightly lower lip. When the child opens his mouth, medicine is poured into his mouth in small portions. Immediately the whole portion should not be infused, the child may choke or injure the delicate mucous membrane of the oral cavity,
From syringe . Use the syringe dispenser included with the medicine or a regular medical syringe, but without a needle. Inject the medicine slowly so that it flows down the inside of the cheek. Insert the syringe closer to the corner of the mouth, slightly pressing on the lower lip.
Pipette . This method is more suitable for infants. The medicine is collected in a pipette and gradually instilled into the mouth with drops. But for children who already have their teeth cut, this method will not work, because with resistance, the pipette glass will be crushed, and the baby will be easily injured by glass.
With a dummy . This method is suitable for babies who willingly take a soother in their mouth. The dummy is dipped with medicine and allowed to lick the baby. Perhaps the dummy will have to be dipped more than once, so that the child receives the entire single dose of the medicine. Or a hole is made in the dummy and a medicine is injected through it with a pipette.
Useful tips for parents
- So that the child does not feel the bitterness of the medicine, pour the medicine closer to the root of the tongue, there are fewer taste buds, and the baby will swallow it easier. In addition, by putting the medicine on the root of the tongue, the swallowing reflex is triggered reflexively, and thus it is more easily swallowed.
- Do not dilute the medicine to improve its taste with juice, fruit drinks, sweet tea. Firstly, a child will drink a spoonful of bitter medicine more easily than a large volume of liquid with an unpleasant taste. Secondly, part of the crushed powder may remain at the bottom of the bottle, and the child will not receive the right dose of medicine,
- After the baby swallows the medicine, be sure to brush your teeth, wipe the gums with a napkin. Some drugs destroy the enamel or leave an unpleasant aftertaste,
- Do not add crushed tablets to food. Food can change the taste, and then the child will refuse it,
- If the tablets have analogues in the form of candles or syrup, use them,
- Do not pinch your nose so that the baby opens his mouth, but rather press on the cheeks, the baby will open his mouth,
- Do not use juice, mineral water, milk to drink tablets. Juice and mineral water change the chemical structure of the drug, and milk slows down absorption,
- Observe the integrity of the preparations in capsules. If there are no special instructions in the instructions, then it is not recommended to open the capsule. For example, Linex, which is prescribed for the prevention of dysbiosis in the treatment of antibiotics. The capsule itself helps protect the medicine from processing by hydrochloric acid in the stomach, and when it reaches the intestines, it will have a therapeutic effect.
Conclusion
Parents always worry about the health of their baby. And if he happened to get sick, then parents should show maximum attention, patience and love for the baby. In order to recover faster, first of all, you must comply with all the doctor's recommendations and strictly follow the medication regimen. While taking the medicine, do not yell at the baby, do not roughly push a spoon or syringe with medicine into his mouth. And it’s better to calm him down, distract him with a toy, a cartoon, a song and gently talk. Taking the medicine on time, you yourself will not notice how your baby will recover.
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