Despite the flavoring and coloring that the pharmacist may add to your 3-year-old's antibiotics, your preschooler may still refuse to take his prescribed medicine. Since antibiotics are an integral part of feeling better during an infection, it's important that you stick to the dosing schedule to ensure that your child gets better. By giving your child some control and coming down to your his level, you can make him more comfortable with the idea of taking the medicine.
Step 1
Call your doctor and ask if it's OK to mix the antibiotics in something more pleasant-tasting, such as white grape juice or applesauce. In most cases, it's fine, but you'll need to check that the quality of the medication will not be affected by dilution. If it's possible, allow your child to choose the type of food in which she'd like you to mix the medication to make her feel more in control.
Step 2
Demonstrate giving the antibiotics to your child's doll or stuffed animal and allow him to do the same. By showing him that antibiotics are nothing to be afraid of, he'll be more likely to allow you to repeat the process when it's time for his dosage. Offer a clean syringe or medicine dropper and water for your child to play doctor and practice giving his toys doses, but keep the medicine well out of reach so your child doesn't become tempted to try the game with real medicine.
Step 3
Administer the antibiotics with a syringe or dropper, rather than a spoon. An upset 3-year-old can easily spill the medicine in a spoon or cause less accurate dosing. With a syringe, you're sure of the medicine getting into your child's system. Insert the antibiotics into the cheek pouch, so your child doesn't taste the antibiotics on her tongue.
Step 4
Allow your child a drink of something sweet directly after taking the antibiotics. Not only will the reward of juice help your child take the dosage more easily, but the sweetness of the juice overrides the immediate unpleasant taste of the antibiotics, so it's less of a negative experience.
Step 5
Contact your doctor if your preschooler refuses to take his antibiotics, spits them out or vomits them out of his system. Depending on the type of antibiotics your doctor originally prescribed, she may be able to prescribe a more pleasant-tasting brand or flavor, or use antibiotics in tablet form which can be crumbled and hidden in food.
Tips and Warnings
- Children's antibiotics are most often issued in liquid form, but if you know your child cannot take liquid medications, ask for tablet form when visiting with your doctor. Your doctor adds that information to your child's file for future reference.
