Get Kids to Take Their Medicine like Superheroes

Plus Other Innovative Solutions

Jaipi Sixbear
How can you get your kids to take their "Yucky" medicines? Let's face it; you don't even want to try it yourself. Of course, there's the usual mixing it with other things. How about the superheroes solution? A friend told me her son came up with his own reason to take his medicine. He said it makes him stronger. Don't we wish our kids and grand-kids were that cooperative? When my son was little I used the ninja turtle solution. The ninja turtles were his favorite super heroes. It worked like a charm. I also had a few other tricks up my parenting sleeve.

How do you get kids to take their medicine like superheroes? Turn them into one. My son was happy to be a Mutant Ninja Turtle. Maybe your child needs a little more inspiration. How about inventing a new super hero? Make them a fabulous cape or whatever it takes. When they take their yucky medicine they become Mighty Medicine Kid or some such thing. Faster than a teaspoon of yuck. Able to swallow the grossest medicine in a single gulp. You get the picture.

What if they're girls? Surely you've heard of Wonder Woman? She must have taken all her medicine or she wouldn't be so powerful. She's definitely just as awesome as Superman, Spidey or even Captain America. Plus she gets to wear the most awesome outfit. Maybe you can make your little girl a special sparkly super hero outfit to take her medicine in. At the very least, she'll love the dressing up part. Plus, if you only allow her to wear it when she takes her medicine....

Doctor prescribe "horse pill" antibiotics for your tween? That's a tough one. I remember struggling with my daughter to teach her how to swallow normal sized tablets. Then the doctor sent her home with those huge antibiotic pills after a hospital visit. Did you know you can request liquid medicine for older kids who can't swallow pills? Some of it's not even very "yucky". Once I learned this strategy, I requested liquid medicine for my "pill-a-phobe" tween every time.

So the liquid tastes horrendous. You wouldn't ask your dog to take it. Saying no is not an option. How do you get your kids to take their medicine like superheroes without the costumes? In other words, what if they aren't buying your Mighty Medicine Kid story? Well, then you go back to hiding it in their favorite foods. Ice cream works well. So does juice, milk and even soda pop. My kids always loved it when they had to take medicine. Why? It was the only time they were allowed to have soda pop.

There's always good old fashioned bribery. What's a good reward for kids taking medicine? Maybe a trip to the store for something yummy to wash down the taste. Ice cream makes a great medicine chaser for those brave kids who gulp it down straight. You could also keep healthy fruit juice ice pops in the fridge as a daily dose reward. Who knows? With these methods for getting kids to take their medicine like superheroes; they may even look forward to doctor visits. Ya, right.

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Published by Jaipi Sixbear - Featured Contributor in Lifestyle

This award winning web writer is co-owner of several writing websites. She's a featured parenting contributor on Yahoo! Shine and Yahoo! Voices. She enjoys helping fellow writers maintain a positive mindset...  View profile

1 Comments

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  • Gayle Crabtree9/16/2011

    Good ideas!

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