Getting kids to take their medicine isn’t always easy. Liquid medicine tastes bad, pills are hard to swallow, and eye drops are scary. By using the methods described below, you will find that the task of giving medicine to your children is much less difficult.

Do not use a regular teaspoon to measure medication, as its size rarely equals one measured teaspoon.

For sticky medicines, run whatever you are using to give the medicine under water first to ensure your child gets all of the dosage.

INFANT-SPECIFIC

If your baby resists a medicine dropper, measure the medicine into a clean nipple to suck. Wet the inside of the nipple first

so not much medicine sticks to it.

Try a pacifier designed to give medicine.

Mix the medicine into spoonfuls of food.

Blow in your baby's face, which causes a natural swallowing reaction.

If the medicine can be taken with food, feed your child crackers or part of his meal to make him thirsty, then offer the medicine mixed with a small amount of something to drink.

Squirt the medicine from a dropper into the cheek, not straight back into the mouth.

When using a syringe, give your child a little at a time so it's not spit back up. Sterilize the syringe afterward by boiling it tomake sure no germs remain on or inside it.

FOR YOUR TODDLER OR OLDER CHILD

Act matter-of-fact about giving your child medication. Don't let him think that you expect him to dislike and reject it. Put it in his mouth and change the subject, occupying him with a completely different topic.

Have your child suck on popsicle first, as the numbing cold will dull the taste of the medicine.

First have your child suck on a lollipop, or eat a spoonful of maple syrup or honey, to coat his mouth with a sweet taste.

If the medicine can be taken with food, mix it with applesauce, a juice your child's not familiar with, or another appealing food. Do not mix bad-tasting medicine in with a drink your child knows; not only is he more likely to note the difference, he may reject that drink for weeks to come, anticipating the funny taste.

Refrigerate medicine or chill it in the freezer to cut the taste of it. Check with your pharmicist to ensure that chilling the medicine does not affect its potency.

Have your child's favorite drink or a rare treat ready to wash away the bad taste.

Have your child pinch his nose shut while swallowing medicine to block the taste.

Let your child suck the medicine mixed with a drink through a fun straw.

Have your child feed himself the medicine.

Serve it up to your child in a clean teacup from a play set.

Make it an event, with applause and lots of clapping.

Give liquid medicine to your child in the tub. This allows you to wash away dribbles.

SWALLOWING PILLS

Let your child practice swallowing pills using M&Ms.

Make pills slip down in a small spoonful of applesauce, whipped cream, ice cream, or yogurt.

Coat pills with a tiny bit of butter or oil to make them more slippery.

Crush the pill with a teaspoon, as long as crushing it will not make the taste worse.

For chewable tablets, have your child eat a piece of bread before teeth brushing to remove medicine stuck on his teeth.

GIVING EYE DROPS

Put drops in the inside corner of your child 's eyes while he closes them, and the drops will go in when he opens his eyes.

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