Unfortunately, children get sick, and they have to be treated not only with tasty and aromatic syrups. Sometimes the pills prescribed by the doctor are unpleasant to the baby's taste. He cries, turns his head and refuses the medicine.
In such a situation, parents have to look for ways to give their child bitter medicine and cure the baby with minimal stress on his psyche. After all, children often perceive any coercion as a deliberate infringement of their freedom on the part of adults and react to this accordingly - they loudly protest and are offended by their mother.
Main difficulties
Mothers are afraid that the frightened baby will immediately spit out the pill. And this happens every time the children notice that they were given bitter “muck”!
Typically the course of treatment lasts several days. And it is extremely difficult to persuade a child to open his mouth again after he is afraid of an unpleasant taste. But you cannot forcefully give medicine - the child may choke and begin to choke.
In such a situation, it is better to contact the doctor again and ask him to replace the tablets with more tasty analogues (syrup, suspension, tablet form in a sweet shell). In most cases, you can find a pleasant-tasting replacement! But mom should not be embarrassed to talk about the problem with her doctor.
What to mix the medicine with
When looking for ways to give a child a pill, parents are faced with the problem that not all medications can be mixed with foods. This is especially true when drinking the medicine with juice or milk. They can change the chemical composition of the drug and affect its effectiveness.
The main rules when mixing medicine with products:
- You should not take the antibiotic with milk, as this can disrupt the structure of the medicine;
- juice nullifies the effectiveness of anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotics;
- The tannin contained in tea can negatively affect the effect of the drug, so it is better not to take the medicine with it.
Other products can be used with tablets, but without fanaticism.
If there is no alternative
But there are cases when it is impossible to replace bitter pills with something more tasty, since the pharmaceutical industry has not produced an analogue for a particular drug.
In such a situation, parents need to be smart and try to prevent the baby from noticing the bitter taste. The easiest way: Give a crushed tablet. To do this, knead it with two spoons or grind it on a kitchen board using a rolling pin. The baby should not see this procedure! Children are very suspicious of new products. Having noticed the mother’s manipulations, the little patient is guaranteed to refuse to take the drug.
Therefore, one of the family members should play with the toddler. Meanwhile, mom quickly prepares the medicinal “filling” and adds it to a teaspoon of fine sugar or powdered sugar. If the baby is not allergic to honey, you can use this healthy natural product.
Very suspicious children can first be given sugar or honey without any additives. And it’s even better to demonstrate with your own example how delicious it is.
As soon as the child is delighted with the new treat, you need to immediately give the medicine and immediately offer the baby to drink it with juice or compote. The main thing is that he does not “see through” his mother’s trick and does not feel bitterness. Therefore, you need to act quickly, confidently and without anxiety (children notice this very quickly and also begin to get nervous).
I suggest watching the following video material, in which children's doctor Komarovsky gives useful tips and recommendations: how to properly give a child medications that he does not want to take at all:
How to neutralize the taste and make bitter medicine sweeter?
The easiest way is to hide the pill in food. To do this, you need to crush the tablet using two spoons; if it is a capsule, then you need to open it and pour out the contents.
There are many ways to “ennoble” the taste of a medicine:
- Mix the resulting powder with sugar or powdered sugar.
- Place in chocolate candy, raisins, strawberries. The main thing is that the child does not chew the treat too much. But it is best to place the tablet in a small piece of banana; its sliding structure will help the baby quickly swallow everything without feeling anything.
- Mix with honey, jam, condensed milk (if there are no allergies). Pediatricians recommend using rosehip syrup for these purposes. Just be sure to rinse your mouth after this, since the ascorbic acid it contains has a negative effect on tooth enamel.
- If treatment is carried out in a hospital setting, doctors advise buying an ampoule with glucose and diluting the tablet in it.
- To prevent the bitterness from being too noticeable, add a drop of vegetable oil to the crushed tablet and sprinkle generously with powdered sugar on top. The oil will create a kind of film and prevent the powder from mixing with the sugar.
- Dilute it with juice, milk, tea, but first you must try it and make sure that the tablet does not greatly affect the taste of the drink. Make sure that the powder does not remain at the bottom of the cup or bottle.
It is best to dilute the resulting powder in a small amount of water or any other liquid so that the child drinks the entire dose in one or two sips. Otherwise, persuading him to take the medicine again will not be easy.
The most important thing is to do all these manipulations so that the child does not see anything.
Human taste buds are located mainly on the tongue. Therefore, you need to give the medicine so that it gets as close to the larynx as possible. It is convenient to use a long spoon for this. Also, many parents prefer to mix the medicine with water in a syringe (without a needle) and inject it into the area between the tongue and cheek. This way the child will hardly feel the bitterness and, most importantly, will not be able to spit it out.
Some medications leave an unpleasant taste in the mouth and destroy enamel, so after the child has taken the pill, you need to wipe the mouth with a napkin or brush the child's teeth.
An ordinary straw can be a useful assistant in this matter. When a child drinks a pill with water from a straw, thanks to the sucking movements, it is pushed deeper faster.
Once upon a time, mothers managed to dip the tablet into thick gelatin, after drying it could be given to the child, avoiding tears and hysterics. Today you can buy a special glaze for tablets at the pharmacy . It has a pleasant taste and aroma and does not react with the medicine, which means it will not affect its effectiveness in any way.
Another plus is convenience; this glaze can be used for tablets of various shapes - halves, quarters and just small crumbs. It smooths out all the uneven corners, making it easier to swallow, and eliminates the unpleasant taste at the break point.
Video instructions for glaze for tablets
other methods
For older children, you can offer the pill in a playful way.
It’s better to prepare two spoons at once. Place ascorbic acid in one for the bear, and sugar with crushed tablets in the other for your son or daughter. First, the baby is treated, and then the bear or doll “drinks” the ascorbic acid. In order not to waste an expensive drug to “treat” the doll, cheap ascorbic acid or paracetamol (aspirin, etc.) is used. That is, those drugs that you don’t mind throwing away.
And children older than one and a half years are easily persuaded. In exchange for treatment without refusals or tears, you can promise them to buy some kind of toy, go on a visit, visit the zoo, and so on.
It’s even better to have an educational conversation and tell him how important it is to get treatment on time, and how his friend was also cured thanks to the pills. There is a high probability that the baby will open his mouth on his own in order to recover faster and go for a walk in the yard “like Petya.” Another way: This is to stuff a banana or chocolate candy with pieces of the medicine. At the same time, the baby is distracted while chewing a product with a “surprise” with the help of a favorite cartoon or toy.
It is important that the child does not notice the catch! The wrapper on the candy should be wrapped neatly, like in a factory. You can place larger pieces, such as quarters, into the candy. And smaller particles are introduced into the banana to make the medicine less noticeable to the taste buds.
Several ways to give the bitter pill
Some parents ask the question: “How to give a bitter pill to a 2-year-old child?” The advice is quite simple, you need to play doctor with your baby. To do this, mom prepares two spoons in advance. One contains medicine for the baby, and the other contains ascorbic acid or paracetamol for a favorite toy. First, the child is treated, and then the plush patient “drinks” the pill. In order not to feel sorry for the expensive drug, the toy is treated with cheap ascorbic acid.
The next advice to the question: “How to give a child a bitter antibiotic tablet?” the method of persuasion will be used. This recommendation will be useful to parents of older children who will understand that taking the medicine without tears and hysterics will help them get a new toy, a trip to the cinema or the zoo.
You can also explain to your child how important it is to get treatment on time, or how his best friend was also cured with pills. After such a story, the baby himself will be able to open his mouth and want to drink even bitter medicine in order to recover faster.
You can also stuff a banana or chocolate candy with pieces of the medicine. While chewing a “surprise” product, the baby must be distracted with a toy or cartoon. It should be remembered that the child should not feel there is a catch. The wrapper on the candy should be evenly wrapped, as in production. There may be larger pieces in the candy, but only small particles are inserted into the banana.
Important points
Pills in pieces can only be given to children over one year of age! For small children it is better to use fine powder. If you spit it out, some of the drug will still end up in the stomach.
But even this can be dangerous - children often inhale it while eating. In this case, fine medicinal dust and sugar will enter the respiratory tract and cause coughing or sneezing.
Mom must be smart here too. Sugar or powdered sugar must be sprinkled with water. And immediately after taking the drug, you need to give the baby a glass of juice or compote. There is no need to moisten the honey. But it’s better to wash it down with warm water rather than sweet juice. This product itself has a rather sweet taste.
At the end of the procedure, you must praise the little hero and say how smart and well done he is. Satisfied children are subsequently more easily persuaded. And a good mood will not be superfluous, because a positive attitude always speeds up recovery.
Lack of analogues
There are times when it is impossible to replace bitter medicines with something more pleasant, since pharmaceutical companies do not produce analogues of a particular drug and composition.
In such a situation, parents simply need to be smart so that the baby does not feel a bitter taste.
The simplest way to give a bitter pill to a child is to completely crush it. To do this, place the medicine between two large spoons and begin to grind. The second way is to use a rolling pin and cutting board. It should be noted that the baby should under no circumstances see what the mother is doing. Children are very wary of new products. Having seen the mother’s manipulations, the child is guaranteed to refuse to take the pill.
Therefore, one of the family members should play and distract the baby. Meanwhile, mom is preparing a remedy. After pouring the tablet into a teaspoon, you can sprinkle sugar or powdered sugar on top, and then sprinkle with water. This is done so that particles of the small tablet do not enter the baby’s respiratory tract. If the child calmly eats honey, then you can use it.
So, how can you give a child a bitter pill? For particularly suspicious babies, you can first give a spoonful of sugar or honey. As soon as the child is delighted with the sweet taste, they then give the medicine and offer to drink it with juice or compote. The main thing is that he does not understand his mother’s cunning and does not feel bitterness. Therefore, you need to act quickly and without worry, since children will recognize it instantly.
How not to give a pill
Some parents ask the pediatrician: “How to give bitter pills to a child?” To which the specialist replies that the main thing is not to mix the unpleasant medicine with the food that the baby needs to eat constantly - yogurt, porridge, soup. Since there is a risk that, having felt an unpleasant taste, the child will never want to eat this dish or product again.
But the tablet in pieces can only be given to children over one year of age. For babies it is better to use fine powder. Even if they spit it out, some of the drug will still enter the body.
The main rule is not to scare the baby. Even if he spits out part of the medicine, you should not immediately run for a new portion. Since such an action can result in an overdose.
