What should I do if my baby refuses to take medicine?

During the peak season of influenza, my baby had a fever again. After the high fever, he caught a cold and had diarrhea. I took him to the hospital and the doctor prescribed a lot of medicine, but my baby refused to take it. What should I do? As a parent, I am so anxious! As an experienced mother and nursing staff, after sharing with other mothers around me and accumulating years of work experience, I have summarized the following methods and would like to share them with you:

Choose the right medicine: When seeing a doctor, try to communicate with the doctor, use less medicine or try to choose medicine that tastes better. If the baby really refuses to take some medicine, communicate with the doctor in advance and use other medicines with similar effects; if the baby is really difficult to deal with, communicate with the doctor in detail about which medicines can be fed with milk powder or glucose water, so that it is convenient to feed the medicine at that time.

Choose the right time: feed the baby medicine when he is in a better spirit or in a better mood. At this time, the baby will be more cooperative. On the contrary, it is difficult to feed the baby medicine when he is sleepy or has a bad temper, and it is even more difficult to feed the baby when he is crying.

Choose the right tools: Some babies like to suck up medicine with a straw, some babies like to be fed with a spoon; some babies like to drink medicine with a cup or special container; some babies like to take medicine with a syringe; there are also some magic medicine feeding tools on the market, you can buy them.

Choose the appropriate method:

(I) The knowledge, belief and practice method: For babies who can reason, you can explain to them: We are sick, we need to take medicine. If we take medicine, we will get better sooner and we can go to school sooner...

(2) Role model method: When other people at home are taking medicine, you can remind them: Dad/Mom/brother/sister is so brave when taking medicine, they don’t cry or make a fuss, we should learn from him (her)!

(3) Encouragement method: Our baby is so awesome, he can take medicine by himself!

4. Counter-check method:

Mom: I don’t believe you can finish this bowl of medicine by yourself!

Baby: I don’t believe I can’t finish this bowl of medicine!

Mom: Do you know how bitter this medicine is?

Baby: I don’t know!

Mom: Then you definitely can’t finish this bowl of medicine, so just blow it!

Baby: Why are you blowing? I’ll drink it for you to see!

(The baby takes the medicine and starts to drink it, while the mother encourages him)

Mom: Just keep bragging, I don’t believe you can finish it/Look, you can’t finish it!

After a while, the baby finished the medicine.

My mother immediately praised me: Oh my God, you really finished the medicine, that’s great!

(V) Lure method: Baby, take the medicine by yourself and mom will reward you with an Ultraman/Baby, take the medicine quickly and mom will take you to the park to play/Baby, open your mouth, this medicine is sweet!

(VI) Killing the chicken to scare the monkey: The child is making a fuss and refuses to take medicine. The mother quietly takes out a toy that he likes and plays a game with the toy about not wanting to take medicine. She imitates the reason why the child refuses to take medicine and cries and makes a fuss. The mother suddenly gets furious and hits the toy with a stick while scolding: If you don’t take medicine, I will beat you! The baby is frightened and the mother suddenly looks at the baby. The father immediately says: Mom is here, let’s take the medicine quickly! After that, before the child can react, he feeds the medicine into the child’s mouth in time.

(VII) The fox borrows the tiger's power to bully others: When the baby is being fed medicine, he cries and makes a fuss, but refuses to take the medicine. At this time, the phone suddenly rings, and the mother answers the phone: "Hello, doctor, I am **'s mother, and the baby refuses to take the medicine... What? He wants to come over for a butt injection? Wait, let me ask him if he wants to take the medicine first! Baby, come here quickly, the doctor said if you don't take the medicine, he will come over to give you a butt injection! The injection hurts, come here quickly, take the medicine quickly..."

(VIII) Grafting method: Use an empty bottle of his favorite beverage, dissolve the medicine and put it in; or add the medicine to flavored yogurt at room temperature; or choose some fruits that the baby likes that can cover the existence of the medicine, such as red dragon fruit, and mix the medicine together and feed it;

(IX) Secret method: Use a warm cherry tomato, hollow out the seeds inside, put the medicine powder or granules inside, and string them together into a candied haws. Remember to put the medicine in the first cherry tomato, not the last one, otherwise it will be a waste of time if the last one refuses to eat! Or dissolve the medicine in a very small amount of warm water, and use Wangzai steamed buns to absorb the medicine. Feeding Wangzai steamed buns is always easier than feeding medicine. This method is suitable for medicines that are not too difficult to accept. If some medicines are bitter or have a strong smell, you can find some sweeteners that are companions to Chinese medicines on the market and add them to the medicine to cover up the taste of the medicine, so that the medicine can be more easily accepted by the baby.

(10) Self-selection method: 1. If you take this medicine and get well, we will go to the park to play; if you don’t take the medicine and get seriously ill, mom will take you to get an injection. You choose one; 2. Do you take it by yourself? Or do you want dad to tie you up and force you to take it? At this time, most children will choose to take the medicine obediently! In addition, you can take it in an environment that your baby likes!

(11) The surprise method: Quickly feed the medicine to the child with a spoon while the child is watching TV or playing with his/her mobile phone.

(12) The method of covering one’s ears and stealing the bell: Be good, baby, pinch your nose, and it won’t be bitter after you drink it in one gulp!

(13) Mixing medicine: First pour all the medicine into a bowl; then add water little by little, stir carefully until it becomes a paste, and then mix it into a paste so that it can condense on clean and soft fingers; when the child is not paying attention, apply it directly to the baby's cheeks. At this time, the child's first reaction is to spit it out. At this time, we immediately hand the baby a bottle or warm water to make it easier for the baby to swallow the medicine.

(XIV) Forced feeding: Some children refuse to take medicine, but their condition is serious and they have to take the medicine, so they can only be forced to take it. However, this method is easy for children to spit out the medicine, and they may choke when drinking. If used too much, it will increase the child's fear and affect the relationship between the baby and relatives. However, parents should be cautious when choosing this method.

It is worth mentioning that most diseases actually have a process of self-healing. If you really can’t take the medicine, you can wait and observe the condition. If the condition is serious, remember to go to the hospital immediately to seek professional help!

Giving medicine to children is definitely an art! There are many experts among the people. Many methods were shared with me by mothers who came to the hospital for treatment. Now I share them with you! Different methods are suitable for different babies. If this method doesn’t work, try another method. If the methods shared today don’t work, readers who have better methods to share can write them in the comment area. I will organize them later and share them with you!

First author: Su Biquan

Expert Profile: Su Biquan; Department: Outpatient Department; Job Title: Head Nurse; Professional Expertise: Nursing Management; Graduated from Southern Medical University in 2019, has been engaged in nursing work for more than 10 years, has published many papers, participated in scientific research projects of the Health and Family Planning Bureau of Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province, and is proficient in a variety of nursing operation skills, including the rescue of critically ill patients, traditional Chinese medicine nursing technology, and is familiar with nursing management.