Pill Identification
There comes a stage in one’s life as a parent when you have to teach your child to swallow pills and take medicine, whether he or she is ill, needs vitamins or any type of pill identification, it is always going to be a bit of a challenge. If your child has an illness like flu, for example, and the doctor prescribes a liquid medicine, it is often easier to get your little one to swallow it using a dropper or even a plastic syringe, rather than a teaspoon, as this will prevent spillage and will also be easier to swallow, as you can squirt little bits into the mouth at a time. The best way to introduce him or her to medicines is to not make a big deal out of it, especially if the taste is an unpleasant one.
Besides for getting your child familiar with pill identification, and that they are not sweets to be enjoyed, but special medicines to make you better when you are sick, you will need to explain the same with liquid medicines, as they might have a delicious flavor to them, which can be confusing to a young child. When getting him or her to take the medicines, sit your child down and use the syringe or dropper to place the medicine at the end of the tongue, towards the back of the mouth. Try not to get the medicine in the cheeks, as your child will merely spit it back out, and never push the syringe plunger with force, as this will create a strong spurt of the liquid into your child’s mouth, which he will greatly dislike, and could even lead to unnecessary choking.
Another great tip, given by experts in the field of pill identification, is to give your little one an ice-sucker to enjoy before giving him or her the liquid medicine, as this will cause his or her mouth to go a numb from the cold, and thus disguise the horrible taste of the medicine. If you don’t have any of these popsicles around, then keep the medicine in the fridge, so that it will be cold and thus have less of a taste. You could always add the liquid medicine to a glass of juice to hide the taste, but just make sure that your child drinks the entire glass, or else he or she won’t get the complete dose of medicine that he or she is required to consume. Once your child has tried an ugly tasting liquid medicine and refuses to take it again, then speak to your local pharmacist, as there are often variations of the same medicine that might be flavored.
When giving your child pills or capsules, pill identification consultants suggest crushing the pills or emptying the capsules and mixing them into flavored juice or something similar, as liquids are easier to handle than pills. Otherwise, if the pill is slow releasing, and therefore needs to be swallowed, simply put the capsule or pill at the very back of your child’s tongue and then quickly give your child some nice tasting juice to drink down with a straw, and this will allow the pill to be swallowed along with the gulping of the cool drink.
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