Tequila-drinking rules for giving medicine
From Antares (an "Austin hackin' mama"):
I knew the college drinking days would come in handy for something someday. Remember how if you took a shot of tequila and made sure to drink something else *before* you swallowed again it wouldn’t taste so nasty? I use the same trick with yucky medicines like cough syrup. I have a cup of juice with a straw *right there* so my Zoe can quickly suck some juice down before that Robitussin taste hits her throat. It has reduced the “no, not medicine!” incidents quite drastically. Just wanted to share.
Just keep in mind that cold and cough medicine is under serious scrutiny. Take care when giving it to your kids.
Related:
Calm coughing without medication
Hot lemonade soothes a tickly throat
Hot salt water quiets coughing
(or any Amazon link at Parent Hacks), you throw some change into our tip jar without any extra steps or cost to you. Thank you!
the juice will also wash away medicine from the throat, making it less effective. the syrup needs to stick to the throat to coat it to help soothe the cough due to throat irritation (from coughing, usually!). The kids won't complain with juice, but they won't get better as soon as they could otherwise.
Posted by: jessie | 06 November 2007 at 04:38 PM
I always used chocolate cake! :-)
Posted by: Jill | 07 November 2007 at 02:30 AM
Jessie - recent studies have shown that this method does not have any adverse effects on the medicine. I thought it would, but the folks controling the medicines say it's okay.
I kind of like the face our five month old makes when she has to have medicine, so I might continue to not "chase" medicine if it makes me chuckle. (kidding, of course)
Posted by: Rob | 07 November 2007 at 06:16 AM
For the worst tasting meds we will add a little bit of sugar substitute (Splenda), a la "a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down" -Mary Poppins
No more complaints....
Posted by: andrew | 07 November 2007 at 08:37 AM
We provide a spoonful of honey or a "honeystick" (available at some grocery stores). It's sweet enough to solve the taste issue, and coats her throat at the same time!
Caution: I think I read somewhere that you're not supposed to give honey to very young children (under 2 years old?). OuMy step-daughter is 10, so that's not an issue for us.
Posted by: Lady Faire | 29 November 2007 at 11:23 AM