DESPERATELY need your best tricks for getting toddlers to take yucky meds...

DS has pneumonia. He had it in Jan and had the same treatment - augmentun 2x/day for 10 days, and prednisone 1x/day for 3 days, plus neb as needed.

The augmentun is a struggle but he'll do it. Neb no problem. For some reason this time, DS won't take the prednisone. He took it last time. We tried it earlier and he gagged and then vomited everywhere (like, full on threw up) and now won't go near it. We tried mixing with apple juice, he took one sip, gagged , and refused to finish it. I'm at a total loss!

Help!

Re: DESPERATELY need your best tricks for getting toddlers to take yucky meds...

Maybe call your pharmacist and see if they can change the color and flavor to something more fruity? Or use a syringe?
Sorry he's so sick.
Hope he feels better soon.

DESPERATELY need your best tricks for getting toddlers to take yucky meds...

You can try but I'm not sure the pharmacy will flavor it once you've taken it home. I've heard of mixing meds with the syrup you use to make strawberry milk.

DESPERATELY need your best tricks for getting toddlers to take yucky meds...

I mix it in my son's liquid yogurt that he drinks with a straw. Works every time.

DESPERATELY need your best tricks for getting toddlers to take yucky meds...

I recently heard of dipping a lollipop in the medicine and keep dipping it til the child has licked off the whole dose. Not sure if that's a good habit to get into, though.

DESPERATELY need your best tricks for getting toddlers to take yucky meds...

We usually put the prednisone in Apple sauce or yogurt. What about ice cream?

DESPERATELY need your best tricks for getting toddlers to take yucky meds...

My ped always recommended putting the medicine in chocolate syrup. LO wasn't having it though but my ped was BEYOND surprised that it didn't work. Maybe try that (our LO is weird and doesn't like pure chocolate)

DESPERATELY need your best tricks for getting toddlers to take yucky meds...

One of my kids will take anything even if it taste horrible. The other one is awful with medicine. The only way I have ever gotten her to take something and not even notice is put it with Coke. I know people do not want to give soda to kids but honestly it worked like a charm and has for about 2 years. I always have a few cans on hand just in case.

DESPERATELY need your best tricks for getting toddlers to take yucky meds...

We always have a hard time getting our kids to take prednisone too - it smells horrible so I can totally understand.

We put it in the back of their mouth and hold their mouth closed for a few seconds.

Re: DESPERATELY need your best tricks for getting toddlers to take yucky meds...

Prednisone in apple sauce worked for my brother as a child. It smells horrible. Nearly thirty years later I still vividly remember the smell and how bad it was. I would have to help my mom hold him while she gave it to him. I still remember it.

DESPERATELY need your best tricks for getting toddlers to take yucky meds...

I have nightmare stories. My DD Is the worrrrrrrrst medicine taker in the. World. In the past we resorted to pretending to drive to the ER "for a shot instead", full on driving to pkg lot of hospital. Holding her down, mixing it in everything, she knows..there is no fooling her. Bribes don't work. She was recently very very sick last month and spent a week in hospital. She had iv Meds, but still had to take some orally. The best is to have them hold their nose so it masks all tastes. Also at home I'd do the nose thing and had to add a fraction of a drop of food coloring because just the white thick color of the rx would make her sick. She was also on high dose aspirin, needing to chew 22 aspirin a day. Those, I'd fold 2 into a sour patch kid and let her take it that way. Now she's down to only 2 a day so she will only sort of give me hell.

Re: DESPERATELY need your best tricks for getting toddlers to take yucky meds...

Bribery. Have a lollipop ready and waiting for immediately after the meds. Even if it's breakfast time.

Re: DESPERATELY need your best tricks for getting toddlers to take yucky meds...

Yogurt worked for us. I let her pick out what yogurt she wanted and it worked.

Re: DESPERATELY need your best tricks for getting toddlers to take yucky meds...

Cherry syrup
Or the syrup that is meant for snow cones

DESPERATELY need your best tricks for getting toddlers to take yucky meds...

No one is worse than DD at taking any meds, even if they taste like candy. DH and I don't let her get away with it, ever.
...OK Prednisone tastes like poison. It's vile and DH had to wrap up our DD in a towel, hold her down, and then squirt it down her throat. She'd spit it at us, no one was happy, and no matter what we did to disguise it (Hi C, slurpees, slushees, ice pops- nothing worked. It wasn't getting better, and because we were playing guessing games with her meds, she got worse (Pneumonia) We really tried.

Ped. recommended Prednisone reditabs dissolvable tablets. (15mg) They taste like grape and melt instantly! Here's the issue: Many pharmacies won't even carry them because they're SO expensive. My advice:
See if your insurance covers them first.
If they do, see if your doctor will write the rx for all 48 pills as if your DC had to take 2/day for 24 days.
They're dispensed in boxes of 48 in punch cards of 6. The pharmacies usually don't stock them because they're so expensive, and the doctors usually write a script for 10 or so. Then the pharmacy is stuck with the rest
My dilemma was only solved as DD got worse and worse and the pulmonologist was more than happy to write the Rx. I just had to promise not to sell them

In all seriousness, it did the trick and DD is 100% better.

Re: DESPERATELY need your best tricks for getting toddlers to take yucky meds...

I bribe my daughter with my iPhone and put on her favorite show. She's so busy watching her show that she takes the medicine with no problem.

Re: DESPERATELY need your best tricks for getting toddlers to take yucky meds...

I find that red fruit punch can hide yucky meds. I mix it into my sons sippy cup.

Re: DESPERATELY need your best tricks for getting toddlers to take yucky meds...